The Assembly Member for Aberconwy and Shadow Spokesperson for Local Government, Janet Finch-Saunders AM has commented on NRW’s final Flood Investigation Report into Llanrwst Flooding December 2015.
The flood alleviation scheme, built in 2009/10 as part of a wider scheme for the Conwy Valley, including Trefriw, with Welsh Government funding at a cost of around £7m to the taxpayer, and was designed to protect up to 76 properties in Llanrwst. The findings of this report note that the incomplete installation of demountable defences relating to Conwy Terrace resulted in the flooding of 3 properties here.
Janet said: “There are certainly further questions to be answered here. The catalogue of errors detailed in this report to explain why the defences were not installed in time beggars belief. From the ‘Multi Agency Flood Response Plan for the Conwy Valley and Surrounding areas’ not being activated or used by NRW or partner Organisations, to the poor communication links between Conwy County Borough Council and NRW – this report details failure after failure, which ultimately resulted in devastating damage to family homes on Boxing Day.
“These issues should have been identified far ahead of time, not only discovered in the event of the worst floods seen here in over 30 years.
“We must now move on in a positive manner, and I am pleased to note that the improvement actions detailed in this report, which include a priority review of communication channels with Conwy County Borough Council, and the doubling of man duty rotas during public holidays.
“I will be meeting with NRW over the summer to discuss this investigation, and the forthcoming report into the flooding of the wider Conwy Valley.”