Plans for a £20m extension to the wastewater treatment works in Cardigan as part of a bid to reduce sewage spillages into the river Teifi has been given the go ahead by county council planners.

Ceredigion County Council planning officers gave the green light to the scheme for the facility on Netpool Road under delegated powers on 28 January.

The long-awaited decision follows consultations and reviews of access arrangements for the project, which was first mooted in 2023.

A report last year revealed extensive and long-term failures by Welsh Water to comply with their operational permit conditions.

The report’s author, Professor Peter Hammond, investigated a number of the company’s wastewater works following concerns over compliance.

One of the worst performing water works was Cardigan, which discharged on 1,146 days between January 2018 and 31 May 2023, or on 58 per cent of the days in that five-and-a-half year period.

On these days, untreated sewage was allowed to enter the Teifi without the works being at full capacity.

Welsh Water’s Managing Director of Wastewater Services, Steve Wilson, said: “This large investment will help ensure that we have capacity at the site to take wastewater and implement measures to prevent the influx of salt water.

“This in turn will ensure that we treat wastewater efficiently and reduce the number of spills from this site into the estuary.

“We would like to reassure the community that we are committed to protecting the local environment and helping to improve the quality of the Afon Teifi.”

The £20m investment at Cardigan is part of a £42m investment by Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water announced last year that also includes £9m investment in four other wastewater treatment works along the Teifi and £10.5m to reduce the impact of key storm overflows across the county.