We’re doing our best to save county from flooding

IT’S safe to say that autumn has finally arrived after what has been an unusually warm September.

We’ve had plenty of rain this week and the first flood alerts of the season.

With Carmarthenshire having suffered with flooding in recent years, this is a worrying time for people who own homes and businesses in locations prone to flooding – I sincerely hope that we don’t see a repeat of previous events, but with climate change happening right in front of our eyes I fear there will be more damage done.

Over the last year I have continued lobbying the Welsh Government to do more; we need major investment in flood defences and assurances that this is a priority.

People need to be able to sleep at night when we experience heavy rain and high tides.

They deserve to have their concerns taken seriously and more protection for their properties.

As a council we are doing everything we can. We are not the lead agency in these matters but often the first to respond to flooding emergencies and the ones clearing up the mess.

We’ve invested heavily in repairing and reinforcing highways, bridges and culverts to help make our communities more resilient, and have granted hundreds of thousands of pounds to businesses and residents to help them recover from flooding damage.

We were one of the first local authorities to declare a climate emergency, and the first to create a role in our cabinet dedicated to climate change as part of our action plan to become a net carbon zero authority by 2030.

But more needs to be done, and we will continue applying pressure to the Welsh Government and other agencies to protect Carmarthenshire.