COASTAL risk management is a major priority for the Welsh Government, according to Welsh Finance Minister Jane Hutt, who has announced that additional funding is being made available to pay for necessary flood and coastal defences in Pembrokeshire and other parts of the country exposed to coastal flooding and extreme weather risk.
Ms Hutt has announced £150 million of new investment in priority flood and coastal risk management across Wales which will be delivered in partnership with local authorities from 2018. The Welsh Government has already invested £245 in coastal risk and flood risk management during this term of government with an extra £50 million made available from European funding.
The Welsh Government spent £7.2 million to repair and improve coastal defences following last year’s storms which affected large parts of Pembrokeshire and caused severe disruption to local communities. The announcement was welcomed by Delyth Evans, the Labour Party’s Parliamentary Candidate for South Pembrokeshire.
Ms Evans said: “The Welsh Government is absolutely right to identify coastal risk management as a funding priority. So many people in Pembrokeshire live on the coast, and they are particularly vulnerable to winter storms and the damage they cause. “It also hits the tourism trade when there is storm damage, as we saw last spring in places like Amroth. So we do need significant funding to improve and restore coastal defences and I am pleased the Welsh Government recognises this.”
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