3. Will the Minister provide an update on the flood prevention plan for Hirael bay, Bangor? OQ57867

Diolch. Gwynedd Council are designing a scheme to reduce the risk of flooding and coastal erosion at Hirael bay. Natural Resources Wales are also reviewing the modelling data of the Afon Adda. The review will confirm the current standard of protection and consider the potential future risk associated with climate change.

Thank you very much. A number of factors are converging to create the risk in Hirael bay, including the increasing sea level, high water table and the way that the Afon Adda enters the sea. I am very pleased that significant funds are being allocated to a flood defence scheme. I'm aware that there is another scheme in the pipeline in this area, namely a plan to extend the coastal path. So, I would like to understand how the two schemes will dovetail, and how you will ensure that the work does happen jointly and promptly. 

The Member is right; the Hirael is challenged with being at risk from a combination of tidal, pluvial and fluvial sources—from the sea, the river and the sky. This will get worse as climate change intensifies—we know this is the case—and Hirael is particularly vulnerable. So, we are investing, as she mentions, £213 million in flood schemes, and this includes a scheme in Hirael bay. It is currently at the detailed design stage with Gwynedd Council, and construction is designed to begin this coming financial year. NRW are also updating the modelling of fluvial flood risk for the Afon Adda system. On the specific point about how we can maximise the advantages of two separate schemes, I think that is an excellent point, and if she doesn't mind, I'll reflect on that and write to her, rather than make something up on the spot.FootnoteLink

Information further to Plenary

Thank you, Deputy Minister, for your response to the important issue raised by the Member for Arfon. The issue raised there can be repeated in many areas across Wales, particularly my region of north Wales, where there's a particular risk of coastal flooding. In the Chamber earlier this month, I did welcome your statement, or Welsh Government's statement, on flood and coastal erosion risk management. In this statement, Deputy Minister, you suggested that NRW had a lot to do, and you mentioned it just a few moments ago, in terms of the resources and the stretching of the resources. So, in light of this, and with flooding being so detrimental to our communities and such a risk, especially with the climate change risk that you mentioned also, what considerations have you given to developing a national flood agency to deal specifically with these risks?

Well, Sam Rowlands will know about the pressure on resources and that's pressure that has intensified as a result of the spring budget where we are £600 million less well off in this budget round than we were anticipating over the next three years, because of cuts made by the Chancellor. So, we simply do not have the money to do all the things that we would like to do. So, the creation of additional public bodies is not something that we will enter lightly into; we'll want to first look at how we can collaborate with local government. And I know as a former leader of a local authority, he will be a champion, I'm sure, of making sure that we use local government to their maximum when we are committed to a partnership with them on that. And we set out last night, for example, on building safety, that rather than creating additional bodies, as they are in England, we are putting some of those responsibilities on local authorities.

So, the same will be true of how we tackle climate change across the piece. We're going to look, first of all, at the bodies that we have—the Welsh Government, Natural Resources Wales and the local authorities, as well as partnerships with other flood management authorities—to see how we can make the most of those before we start thinking about additional institutions to create and run.