A further £4.2 million for flood affected communities

The funding has been allocated for the next financial year in the Draft Budget 2016/17 to complete important flood defence schemes at Boverton in the Vale of Glamorgan and Porthcawl. This is in addition to the £3million announced in December for work at St Asaph which will also commence in the next financial year.

Boverton is a £1.96 million scheme in an area that has suffered frequent flooding in recent years. It will reduce risk to around 17 homes and businesses and also provide amenity improvements. The scheme will be built alongside and complement an existing project nearby in Llanmaes reducing risk to the wider catchment.

Porthcawl Town Beach will see £2.25 million of improvements to replace the deteriorating coastal defences along the Esplanade Road seafront. The existing defences are nearing the end of their residual life, with any failure here putting over 260 properties at risk along the seafront and main town.

The project will not only build resilience to coastal flooding and climate change but also provide better access to the foreshore and aesthetic improvements to what is a popular tourist destination.

Carl Sargeant said the investment highlights how the Welsh Government is recognising the implications and risks posed by the changing climate and is taking action to address this.

The Minister said:

“We have recently witnessed the wettest December on record and flooding across Wales. This is why flood and coastal risk management remains a key priority.  At the end of December I committed £1 million for local authorities to carry out immediate repairs and maintenance work to river and drainage schemes. This was boosted by the announcement from the First Minister last week of an additional £2.3million for flood risk management.

“Over the lifetime of this Government we have invested over £240 million into flood risk management which has been supported by a further £47 million from Europe.  This has allowed for significant investment across Wales including schemes at Beaumaris, Rhyl, Dolgellau, Swansea, Colwyn Bay and Cardiff and Pontaddulais. This investment has provided reduced flood and coastal erosion risk to over 12,000 properties across Wales to date, including over 10,700 homes.”

The Minister also thanked those who were involved in responding to the recent floods, who he said, have worked tirelessly since Boxing Day and continue to do so.

“Local authorities and NRW are continuing to work to assess the full extent of the damages and impacts,” he said. “However we are already aware of flooding in the local authorities of Gwynedd, Isle of Anglesey, Caerphilly and Pembrokeshire.  It is currently estimated that over 150 properties across Wales over the whole of the month of December have flooded with numerous near misses.”

Carl Sargeant added that sustained Welsh Government investment in flood defences, awareness raising as well as forecast and warning systems over the last few decades is having an impact in making communities more resilient to flooding.