WATCHDOG COULD PROBE SLIP SAGA

NINO WILLIAMS - 08 April 2005

Swansea's handling of the Slip Bridge saga may be probed by the Local Government Ombudsman after a complaint about the affair. The bridge was moved to the Recreation Ground more than a year ago, following a report which found its condition had deteriorated badly.But a decision over its future was delayed following a £35,000 public consultation exercise which proved inconclusive.The council now wants to find it a permanent new home along the foreshore promenade.But the way the matter has been handled has come to the attention of the Local Government Ombudsman.He has contacted the council, but has yet to decide whether to pursue the issue with an official investigation.A spokesman for Swansea Council said: "We have responded to initial contact from the ombudsman."This is standard practice in what is the first stage of the process."It is now up to the ombudsman to decide whether to pursue the matter."The bridge had stood over Oystermouth Road for almost 100 years.The original abutments still stand.The council has got proposals to transform them into modern toilet facilities.Eileen Walton, of Swansea Civic Society, said today: "The whole issue of the Slip Bridge has been very badly handled."We did not see the initial report about what was wrong with it and the costings were never made clear to us."It is not just a bridge, but an icon of the past."We have lost so much in Swansea and it was the last part of the Mumbles railway, which many people remember with affection."It will be interesting to hear whether the ombudsman decides to launch an official investigation, and what exactly he will be looking at."