The Welsh Conservatives’ Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Energy and Rural Affairs – Janet Finch-Saunders MS – has today (22 October) urged the Welsh Minister for Environment to answer pressing questions on flood management investment, as a review into Natural Resources Wales handling of the 2020 floods has been published.
The review into the worst flooding to hit Wales for more than 40 years has found that increased pressure on staff operating its flood warning service hampered its ability to issue alerts to residents. Storms Ciara, Dennis, and Jorge devastated parts of the country in February, leading to more than 3,100 properties being flooded - 2,527 of them households - over the course of the month.
Commenting on the review findings, Janet said:
“In questions to the Minister responsible, I have consistently raised concerns about the agency’s ability to react swiftly to events on the ground. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that this review has found that NRW’s resources could not fully cope with the size of the task at hand to the point that 12 vital flood warnings were not issued when they should have been.
“The fact that six flood warnings were also issued late compounded the situation and failed to give residents time to adequately prepare. The Welsh Government must answer urgent questions about investment and staffing, particularly as the current climate emergency means that these events are predicted to become evermore frequent if not challenged head on.
“I am deeply concerned that this review suggests that any next steps taken should rest heavily upon the Welsh Government’s new National Flood and Coastal Erosion Strategy. This document plainly fails to address concerns around the delivery of official reports nor provides movement on calls for independent reviews.
“In setting to bring clarity around the roles and responsibilities of bodies responsible for responding to flood and coastal erosion, the Welsh Labour-led Government has unfairly sought to place the onus on local authority response, enabling Natural Resources Wales to take a further hands-off approach.
“For residents in flood hit areas, including the Conwy Valley in my own constituency of Aberconwy, this news of stretched resources will bring little comfort. Ahead of the challenging winter months, assurances must be provided that the flood warning system will work as planned.”
ENDS
