2. What support is the Welsh Government providing for coastal communities facing the threat of flooding? OQ59079

Thank you, Janet. The Welsh Government is investing £293 million in reducing flood risk to coastal communities across Wales through our coastal risk management programme. This will reduce flood risk to over 15,000 properties, and includes, for example, more than £19 million of investment in Aberconwy. An interactive map showing our investment is published online.

Thank you, Minister. I'm sure you're aware that, in 2014, our lovely sandy beach, north shore, Llandudno, received, without any notice, the dumping of some 50,000 tonnes of freshly and dirty quarried rock. At the time, it was described as 'shingle'. The town was in uproar, with residents, visitors and business owners still angry to this day. I can recall our sea washing up a white, milky froth for around three weeks, whilst this was described at the time as 'clean and inert shingle.' 

Now, in 2023—well, sooner than that, actually—we're now aware of the several options that have been brought forward to you to bring forward a new sea water flood defence scheme. One of the options is to implement a scheme that would replace sand, and stage 1 was even supported. I cannot overemphasise my immense disappointment that this scheme now will not be supported, as you feel that the cost outweighs the aesthetic benefits of using sand renourishment. Llandudno is the queen of the Welsh resorts, and the jewel in the crown— 

I'm going to have to call you to ask your question now, because I'm about to ask you to ask your spokespeople questions, of which there are three. So, can you ask your question?

Okay. What steps, Minister, can you take? How do we move forward on this? What steps will you take to ensure that we have the right sea defences we need, but that, at some stage, we can see our sandy beach restored in Llandudno? Diolch. 

Yes, thank you, Janet. So, just to be really specific, the Welsh Government have recently awarded grant funding to Conwy County Borough Council to develop a full business case for Llandudno, based on maintaining and improving the existing cobble defence on the north shore. The alternative sand option provides no additional flood benefit, at a much greater cost to the coastal risk management programme, and that's the problem. So, whilst I completely understand what you're saying about the sandy beach, the coastal risk management programme is for coastal risk management; it's not for tourist attractions and other aesthetic value. I'm not denying the value of that; I'm just saying that's not what the programme is for. 

So, if Conwy County Borough Council want to get an alternative sand option at Llandudno north shore, they really need to look for alternative sources of funding. There are some other sources of funding available, but, in all conscience, I cannot take a coastal management programme that's specifically designed to protect places from flooding and use it for a completely different purpose. So, whilst I have some sympathy with what you're saying, this is not the right programme for it. And, you can tell from the amount of money that we've invested around the coast of Wales that we are really trying to get as many properties protected from actual flooding as possible. Clearly, we do try to do that in the most environmentally and aesthetically pleasing way possible, but, in the end, it's down to how many properties we protect. So, I'm sure you'll be able to work with the council to get a better option, but not through this funding model.