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Peredur Owen Griffiths, who represents Plaid Cymru, is one of four regional Senedd Members serving the South Wales East region.
This week marks the two-year anniversary since many communities across Wales were devastated by Storm Dennis. In my region, Llanhilleth was hit particularly hard, as was Ystrad Mynach and Machen in Caerphilly County Borough. At the time, this was billed as a once-in-a-lifetime event in terms of the levels of rainfall we experienced during that storm and the ones that followed in quick succession. I know I was not the only one who was sceptical about such claims considering the climate emergency we face. The science clearly points to what was once regarded as ‘freak weather’ becoming much more of the norm. Many people who were flooded during those dreadful events two years ago now find it hard to relax and sleep at night whenever we receive the kind of stormy weather we have had in the last week. It is unreasonable to expect people to live like that.
In the last week, that scepticism many of us felt about the storms of 2020 not likely to repeat themselves any time soon has been validated by none other than the chief executive of Natural Resource Wales, Clare Pillman. She has warned that storms are the “future reality”. This acknowledgement may unease many people – and that is completely understandable. No one wants to see those terrible pictures of people losing all their downstairs belongings in waist-high water in their homes. However, with this acknowledgement comes a responsibility on those in power to make the changes necessary to mitigate against these storms whenever they may happen. It is no longer acceptable for the authorities to bury their heads in the sand when it comes to flood alleviation measures.
Plaid Cymru has made sure that flood prevention is on the to-do list of the Labour Government thanks to the co-operation agreement we signed with them. The agreement contains a clear commitment to “commission an independent review of the local government section 19 and Natural Resources Wales reports into extreme flooding in winter 2020-21 and act on its recommendations.” Further to this was a pledge to “invest more in flood management and mitigation and plan to respond to the increased risk of flooding.”
This is a good start but Plaid Cymru wants more. I echo the calls of my Senedd colleague Heledd Fychan – who represents many flooded communities in the South Wales Central region – in calling for the establishment of a Welsh Flood Forum. This would be based on the body established in Scotland tasked with collaborating with communities at risk of flooding to develop resilience groups and provide fast and effective support when it is needed. A common complaint throughout many communities after Storm Dennis was that help was slow to arrive and, when it did come, it was inadequate.
As we have seen in the last week, heavy rain and storms are here to stay. Wales needs to adapt to the dangers posed by the climate emergency if we are to give people the peace of mind they deserve. It’s not too much to ask for.
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