3. Statement by the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs: Emergency Flood Summit Update

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:05 pm on 25 February 2020.

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Photo of Darren Millar Darren Millar Conservative 4:05, 25 February 2020

Thank you. As a person who has lived through a personal flood experience in the Towyn floods 30 years ago this week, my heart goes out to each and every person that's seen the devastation of flooding in their homes and businesses over the past fortnight with storm Ciara and storm Dennis. I also know that it brings out the best in people as well, and I know that each one of us that's visited a community in recent weeks will have the seen the way that communities have pulled together and grown together through the terrible experiences that they have had. 

Imagine, then, being in a situation, as some of my residents are in the community of Llanfair Talhaearn, which has been impacted by flooding three times in the past eight years. Three times in the past eight years, having the builders in, ripping everything out, trying to put everything back together and to piece your life together. It has just been absolutely horrific. And I would ask you, Minister: can you ensure that communities like Llanfair TH, like Llanrwst and others, which have been impacted frequently in recent years by flooding, are given that little bit extra priority because I think that they need it and they deserve it? That's not taking away from the awful impact of floods elsewhere, which also need attention, but, clearly, there's something seriously wrong when a community that is told that it has a flood risk of about one in every 50 years has been hit three times in eight. There's something not right with the modelling, which needs to be addressed.

You also referred, Minister, earlier on, and I think Llyr Gruffydd referred to this, to the capacity of certain councils to be able to respond through additional assistance and support in the same way that Rhondda Cynon Taf has been able to, with financial payments to those who've been without insurance, and perhaps even those who've had some insurance. Conwy County Borough Council, as you will know, has one of the lowest settlements this year with its revenue support grant, and it doesn't have the capacity in the same way that some of these other local authorities have to be able to support residents in its communities that have been impacted by flooding. Can I ask what support you might make available to councils with significant financial pressures, like Conwy, in order that it can respond perhaps in a different way to the challenges that residents in that community are facing?

And finally, one of the near misses that we had during the recent storms was on the coast in Kinmel Bay, in the community of Sandy Cove. As I said at the opening of my remarks on this statement, it was 30 years ago this week that that community suffered the devastating Towyn floods, along with other communities along the north Wales coast, as often the Deputy Presiding Officer is only too keen to remind me. But, clearly, having a near miss in a community that suffered such devastation in the past is also a concern. So, what support can you make available as rapidly as possible for communities on the coast in Towyn and Kinmel Bay to ensure that their flood defences are also robust and up-to-scratch, so that they can avoid the sort of devastation that people in RCT and elsewhere have suffered in recent weeks?