Floods hit main road near housing estate
DRIVERS passing through the main road in Burry Port were caught in a flood of muddy water near a new housing development on Wednesday.
Witnesses say the pool of water, which was several inches deep, stopped traffic for a while near the new Pen y Porth development on the old Gwdig Hotel site.
The Pobl Group development, which includes 103 new houses on the site, sits on a hill and caused controversy in the town and split opinions when it was proposed, with many saying that Burry Port would not be able to deal with the influx of more residents.
Other issues with the proposals raised by locals included more traffic on the busy Burry Port to Llanelli route, a strain on the town’s facilities and concerns regarding flooding.
The contractors behind the development said the road has been liable to flooding in the past after heavy rainfall and that this incident was caused by blocked gullies.
Jehu Group said there is video footage of floods occurring in October 2019 – before work on the site had even begun.
Many locals have said that they had previously raised concerns about flooding on the Gwdig development and are worried that this incident will be the first of many.
Martin Davies, who lives on Elkington Road near the new development, said: “We all knew this would happen. The people who live opposite are the ones who are going to pay the price, which is a shame. We all raised concerns with the council about the flooding and the place isn’t even built yet and there are already problems.
“I have seen it flood before but not that bad. It wasn’t even that much rainfall as well, so I’m sure it’ll be worse when the weather is bad,” he added.
Another local said that flooding had never been an issue on the road: “I drive that road on a regular basis, as I work in Trostre. I’ve never been stuck because of water and I’ve lived in Burry Port for 12 years.
“That is what happens when developers don’t listen to the concerns of the community. It’ll probably be the start of many.”
Traffic mounted up from the water on Wednesday afternoon and a tailback of cars could be seen on one side to the CK Supermarket nearly a mile up the road, and to neighbouring village Pwll on the other side of the road.
The road from Burry Port to Llanelli is often considered one of Carmarthenshire’s most congested and residents from both Pwll Road and Sandy Road have previously branded it a nightmare to drive on.
Passerby Peter Tully said: “There was tailback to CK Supermarket and other way to Pwll. Drivers of cars were reluctant to pass through as the water was deep.”
A spokesperson for Jehu Group said: “This section of road is historically liable to flooding and has previously flooded prior to our commencement on site. We, in turn, have video footage showing the same unfortunate event in October 2019, prior to our commencement.
“Despite the above, as soon as a resident made us aware of the issue, we mobilised staff on to the road to clear the existing gullies, which were full of leaves. Our team managed to unclean the blockage within the hour of notification prior to council arrival. Additionally, due to the importance of the relationship with residents we assisted with brushing pathways on the existing road.
“Our continued relationship with the local residents is important to us, which is why we will assist the local council with cleaning road gullies outside of our scheme during the build period.”