In the wake of fierce weather which has seen large parts of the UK devastated by ‘Storm Desmond’, and with sizeable parts of Wales said to be at risk from rising sea levels, Welsh Conservative Regional AM Dr Altaf Hussain and Assembly Candidate George Jabbour have joined ward Councillor Alun Thomas in Newton, Porthcawl, to meet with local residents and inspect the local flood defences -which have come under threat from a new shoreline management plan.
The shoreline management plan drawn up by Bridgend County Borough Council and Natural Resources Wales has been greeted angrily by local residents: in the short-run the plan is to ‘hold the line’ by maintaining existing defences in Newton, including a sea wall – but in 20 years’ time there will be “no active intervention” and the coast will be allowed to “retreat naturally”.
It states the sea defences will “eventually fail with an increased risk of flooding over time”.
Welsh Conservative Regional AM Dr Altaf Hussain has said that he sees serious flaws with the way this decision has been reached and will be writing to the First Minister asking him to intervene personally. Dr Hussain said: “The Shoreline Management Plan states that 30 properties, valued at a total of £3.7 million will be affected at Newton.
“The plan therefore assumes an average house price of £124,000, which seems very obviously to fall well below market values in Newton. A low figure of course skews the cost benefit analysis used by NRW in Newton in favour of a decision to abandon the defences in twenty years’ time.
“Surely this should be more than a plain and rigid exercise in number crunching given what is at stake? Whilst numbers sit coldly on a balance sheet, NRW and the Council need to remember that behind the numbers sit the dreams, fears and aspirations of real people. They are concerned about how the plan impacts on their ability to obtain or extend a mortgage, and indeed insurance cover on their properties. They are rightly anxious about how this will impact on future generations – their children. How do you quantify that? I will be writing to the First Minister and seeking his personal intervention”.
Prospective AM for the Bridgend Constituency, George Jabbour, added: “Many of the houses on Beach Road in Newton have never been flooded. However, because of the new policy, these properties will be negatively affected as they will tarred by insurance providers and mortgage companies with the same brush as properties in other areas that are regularly subject to flooding. It is crucial that the risk of flooding is explained properly.”
Repair works on existing flood defences were carried out earlier this year, costing £300,000.