Happy new year to all and best wishes for the year ahead.
The end of last year and the start of the new brought with it what seemed some of the wettest weather we have experienced.
There were some particular hot (or should I say wet) spots round the Vale that I have been worried about. Over recent years there have been a number of areas that have flooded all too regularly.
The television footage of the devastating impact flooding has on families and communities reminded me of how local people felt when the same happened to them.
Over recent years I recalled visits families, businesses and schools in Barry, Cowbridge and a number of smaller villages such as Llandow across the rural Vale where they were experiencing similar devastation.
Boverton is a specific case I will return to.
The reasons for the flooding is some of these areas are varied. Some were simply as a result of blocked or collapsed culverts; others because of building in inappropriate areas - not only on flood planes but also the impact inadequate drainage when developers concrete over green spaces.
Action has been taken to prevent the re-occurrence in a number of these communities. Commitments were gained from a number of Authorities to clear and clean culverts and more assessments should take place on the impact of development. I will continue to monitor the situation to ensure this work continues.
Thankfully, at the time of writing, those areas mentioned had not been affected yet by this adverse weather.
There is one area, however, where commitments from the Welsh Government, Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and the Vale Council to rebuild the culvert in Boverton – has seen no action on the ground.
This is a community that has experienced the worst of flooding on a number of occasions in recent years.
In spite of the warm words and a number of public meetings, Boverton is still waiting for the funding to be committed. I have been to a number of public meetings, where NRA have said it was a priority, only to see other communities in Wales receive the spend.
One local campaigner that I contacted this week told me that the delay is even more galling when he considers that flood defences further up the river led to the flooding in Boverton. Clearly, all projects must be thought through to ensure that necessary action is taken to resolve the whole local problem, not one part of it.
The UK government has made more money available to combat flooding, for which Wales will receive its share. It now falls to the Welsh Government to use that money on anti flood measures.
I hope that on this occasion they do and that Boverton and other Vale projects don’t miss out yet again. Otherwise local individuals and communities won’t forget when it comes to expressing their views through the ballot box.