Villagers desperate for flooding solution

AFTER two floods in recent weeks, Claire Gooding was set to be camping with her daughters at her water-damaged home in Pontargothi, Carmarthenshire, on Christmas Eve before heading to a friend's house for Christmas Day.

- RICHARD YOULE

Logs, debris and a raging River Cothi by The Cresselly Arms, Pontargothi

Her property near the River Cothi was hit by rising water in November and then again this month.

“It was just below my waist in November, then mid-thigh level at the beginning of December,” she said.

“I'm 43 and I don’t have a tea towel or iron to my name, let alone a birth certificate.”

She said the most frustrating thing was that in her view, the flooding was preventable.

Mrs Gooding and others felt more should be done to prevent logs and other debris piling up at Pontargothi bridge, which they said causes the river to rise further during heavy rain and flood nearby properties.

“There's got to be the rain to provide the volume of water, but had the debris not been there, the river wouldn’t have flooded,” said Mrs Gooding. “It was like a beaver dam.”

Some people think the river should be dredged, that shale accumulating under the A40 bridge should be cleared, and fallen trees and landslips further upriver dealt with more effectively.

South Wales Trunk Road Agency (SWTRA) clears bridge debris when it's safe, and in March this year, unveiled plans to install two large rotating cylinders in the river to steer logs and other material away from the bridge supports so they could float downstream unimpeded.

Water-level sensors and CCTV cameras were also proposed, although debris would still be cleared when required.

But not everybody's convinced about the cylindrical debris sweepers, and there are objections. Nine months on and the planning application to Carmarthenshire Council has still not been determined.