Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has raised North Wales concerns regarding the bad management of rivers with the Minister for Natural Resources this week.
Speaking in the Assembly Chamber, Mr Isherwood asked the Minister to respond to concerns expressed by an Anglesey landowner who experienced flooding after Natural Resources Wales failed to act on his warnings that his land was in danger of flooding.
He said:
“After an Anglesey landowner contacted me to say he’d cleared the river bed on his side, but the adjacent farm was refusing to, saying that it was a matter for Natural Resources Wales, I contacted Natural Resources Wales with the warning that this would lead to flooding over winter. They replied that it didn’t appear to pose any flood risk to people or property. Needless to say, during the heavy rain this December, half the field was flooded because of the blockage.
“My constituent went back to Natural Resources Wales saying that landowners were now going to contribute collectively to fund the clearance, and, instead of getting assistance, it came back saying, ‘You’ll need prior consent, you need to get a form, complete a form, submit a map, blah, blah blah’ rather than working with them to do what they should’ve done in the first place. How, therefore, would you respond to the concern expressed by my constituent on Anglesey that —quote—‘no wonder we’re having flooding. It’s down to bad management of rivers’?”
The Minister replied: “Landowners can undertake watercourse maintenance work themselves and I’ve met with many farmers who do that, providing they have consent from NRW. I don’t think it’s too complicated. The fact is, working together is really important, but we just can’t allow dredging or watercourse management by stealth, because that has an effect elsewhere. That’s why there has to be a management process around it.”
Mr Isherwood added: “As my constituent said “farmers should have the same rights as in England to undertake good river management and prevent flooding.”