Work soon to start on Locks Common fire breaks

South Wales Fire and Rescue Service, with the support of Bridgend County Borough Council, will soon be working on Locks Common in Porthcawl to redefine and widen existing fire breaks.

People are being asked to be careful when visiting the site next week, keep all dogs on leads and maintain a safe distance from the machinery while work is in progress.

Locks Common Local Nature Reserve begins where the original Porthcawl promenade ended and stretches to Rest Bay beach. It supports a huge variety of birds, butterflies and wildflowers.

Following a number of fires on the common in recent years, combined with exceptionally hot summers, fire breaks were cut into the scrub habitats to limit the effects and spread of potential future fires.

These breaks not only help limit the effect of fires, but they also help reduce the loss of the scrub habitat and help speed up the scrub recolonisation process.

In the week commencing Monday 20 February, the fire service will be re-defining and widening the existing fire breaks before the start of the bird-nesting season.

Cabinet Member for Communities Councillor John Spanswick

South Wales Fire and Rescue Service Watch Manager Chris Deacon added: “We’ll be using specialised cutting equipment in the form of a robotic remote control flail, which is used to help limit the effect on habitat and control wildfires.”