Climate anxiety is tackled with £214m flood defence funds

Storm Dennis in Feb 2020 caused flooding in Crickhowell, Powys

Record sums are to be spent on flood defences in a bid to tackle "climate anxiety", the Welsh government has announced.

Climate change minister Julie James MS said communities needed to feel safe in the face of more frequent extreme weather.

The government said it would pay £214m over the next three years towards its "largest ever flood programme".

But the Welsh Conservatives claimed the measures would not go far enough.

Wales, which is well-known for its regular downpours, is getting wetter.

A recent analysis by the Met Office compared two 30-year periods (1961-1990 and 1991-2020) and found annual average rainfall has increased by more than 10% across parts of the country.

Sea levels are also rising as the world's oceans warm up, exacerbating the risk of coastal flooding and erosion.

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In February, days before a series of violent storms battered the country, the environment watchdog Natural Resources Wales (NRW) warned record-breaking flooding was to become "the new reality" for communities.

Ms James said the new flood protection programme was about making people "feel we have a plan for the future that means they don't have to worry about it".

"We're seeing really high tides, increased storm events and so we very seriously need good flood defences to make sure people are not at constant risk of flooding in their homes and businesses and that we can continue to live and thrive in our coastal cities".

Most of Wales' major conurbations were situated on the confluence of a river and the sea, she pointed out.

Flooding caused by Storm Dennis in February 2020 caused several homes to be flooded in Nantgawr, Rhondda Cynon Taf

"We've got a lot of climate anxiety amongst school children and so on - this is about announcing to them that there are things we can do to make sure they don't feel like that."

Across Wales one in eight homes, around 245,000 buildings, are thought to be at risk of flooding.

The announcement made on Tuesday includes £71m of capital investment for new flood defence schemes next year, which the government said would help protect more than 14,500 properties.

Local authorities will also be able to apply for up to £225,000 each in revenue funding to cover the day-to-day running costs of their flood prevention work.

NRW's budget will also increase by £1.5m.

In its evaluation of 2020's storms, which caused the most widespread flooding in Wales for 40 years, the organisation had warned it required funding for 60-70 additional full time staff to work on flood response.

Meanwhile, Ms James said she was working with local authorities on the introduction of new planning rules forcing developers to consider the risk of climate-change related flooding.

Considered a UK-first, the change was meant to come into force in December but has been delayed until June 2023 after some councils complained it was being rushed through.

An increase in investment for flood and coastal erosion risk management and mitigation was part of the Welsh Labour government's cooperation agreement with Plaid Cymru.

Homes were flooded on Sion Street, Pontypridd after the River Taff burst its banks on February 16, 2020 due to Storm Dennis

Plaid's designated member for the agreement Sian Gwenllian MS said it would "make an important difference" and was the result of working together to "face up to the major challenges posed by the climate crisis".

"In recent years, we have seen the real and often devastating impact floods can have on people's lives and over the next three years we are committed to investing more in flood management and mitigation," she said.

But Welsh Conservatives' climate change spokesperson Janet Finch-Saunders MS said "so much more needs to be done and we need to see more innovative policies being put forward".

"I fear this new money for NRW will not go far enough to address the increase in responsibilities that the organisation currently has," she said.

"What Wales needs is an integrated response to flooding through a National Flood Agency in order to work with local communities to coordinate flood risk management, responses to flooding and carry out independent inquiries into flooding events."