Clwyd West MS Darren Millar has welcomed latest works to alleviate flood risk in a Conwy village where homes and businesses have repeatedly been hit by floods in recent years.
Natural Resources Wales (NRW) have announced that Phase 2 works for Llanfair Talhaiarn flood risk management scheme are to start this month.
The works, which will be carried out by William Hughes Civil Engineering Ltd, involve improving access to the screen and making alterations that will simplify clearance operations for
Natural Resources Wales staff. Walls will be built at Capel Soar/Tan y Geulan, upstream of the culvert inlet, to keep more water in the channel and make full use of the culvert’s capacity.
Improvements are also being made to the monitoring equipment kiosk that is located on site.
Welcoming the works, Darren, who following the 2020 floods in LlanfairTH called for a “rapid review” into flood risk management in the village, said:
“The residents of LlanfairTH will be very pleased to see this latest work get underway.
“When heavy rainfall during Storm Ciara at the start of 2020 caused the River Elwy to burst its banks, resulting in waist-high water in the village square which swept away cars, displaced several residents and shut business properties, it was the third time LlanfairTH had been flooded in eight years. Residents are therefore desperate to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
“I have been informed by NRW that the main in-river works will commence in late May after the embargo on in-river working ends and work will continue into the Autumn. The main site compound will be located on the old tennis courts at School Lane.
“Whilst NRW anticipate that the disturbance will be significantly less that Phase 1 works, there will still be some disturbances and NRW will be sharing a contact number for their contractors, William Hughes, to allow any issues during the construction works to be reported directly to them and resolved promptly.
“They have also informed me that they have regularly reviewed the top section of the Nant Barrog Water Street culvert in the village, where works were completed in late 2018, and have found it is still performing well, allowing the culvert to carry much more water safely at times of higher flow, although even the improved culvert has a capacity limit and there will always be a possibility of it being overwhelmed in an exceptional flood event - as unfortunately happened during Storm Ciara in 2020.
“The residents of LlanfairTH have been let down badly in the past, so I am pleased that action is finally being taken to prevent further flooding. As someone whose family home was hit in the Towyn floods back in 1990, I know how devastating it is to see your home destroyed. Hopefully, these works will help ensure that the people of LlanfairTH are never faced with flooding again.”
