The Council is pleased to secure significant funding from Welsh Government to help progress the Pentre Flood Alleviation Scheme – which will invest in further, major flood alleviation work in the village on top of the significant measures already carried out since Storm Dennis.
Pentre was one of the hardest-hit communities during the unprecedented rainfall of Storm Dennis in February 2020. Major work has since taken place on the ground to alleviate future flood risk, and a summary of what has been completed so far is included at the bottom of this update. A Section 19 report under the Flood and Water Management Act, published by the Council in July 2021, has also helped to understand the causes of flooding in the community.
During June and July 2023, the Council consulted residents about a preferred option being developed for the Pentre Flood Alleviation Scheme – including two local events at Canolfan Pentre. The scheme will be a multi-million pound investment in infrastructure, capturing rainwater from the upper catchments of Pentre and directing it through a newly-located culvert system at ground level.
The Council has now been awarded £800,000 funding support from Welsh Government’s Flood and Coastal Risk Management Programme, to help deliver the Full Business Case and the detailed design stage.
This funding will enable the Council to begin the technical design stage of the scheme over the next 18 months – which will essentially progress the design that was shared with the community last summer. The first steps will be to appoint external consultants for the scheme, and to begin initial survey work.
Residents can keep up-to-date with progress through local liaison groups that will be set up with community representatives – while a dedicated page on the Council’s website will be kept updated. The webpage can be accessed here.
Councillor Andrew Morgan OBE, Leader of Rhondda Cynon Taf Council and Cabinet Member for Infrastructure and Investment, said: “We have welcomed this important funding support from the Welsh Government to help progress the Pentre Flood Alleviation Scheme – which is a commitment by the Council to invest in further flood alleviation measures for the village. This will be a major project, designed and delivered over a number of years, as we look to protect the community from the threat of future severe weather events.
“A preferred option for the scheme’s design was shared with the community last summer, and the newly-secured funding will enable officers to progress to the Full Business Case and the detailed design stage. A Section 19 report for flooding in Pentre during Storm Dennis was the first of 19 we published, and it has helped us to understand why flooding occurred locally, and informed our efforts to reduce the flood risk if a similar storm event ever occurred.
“While much of the work to date has gone on behind the scenes, residents can be assured that the Pentre Flood Alleviation Scheme is a priority for us – and the newly-secured funding will enable a consultant to be appointed and for initial survey work to take place on the ground. The Council will regularly update its dedicated webpage to highlight the progress that is being made, and will communicate all of the key milestones with local residents.”
The following activity has taken place in Pentre since Storm Dennis:
- Surveyed around 3.2km of ordinary watercourses and 5.5km of surface water drainage infrastructure. This has been mapped and reviewed, resulting in targeted cleansing and repairs. Around 600 tonnes of debris have been cleared from assets following Storm Dennis.
- Completed a business case for the Upper Rhondda Strategic Flood Risk Area, which has included a pilot project to identify and complete a number of ‘quick win’ schemes to manage the local flood risk which has supported the delivery of advanced works following storm Dennis.
- Completed significant work at the Pentre Road inlet – this major work was in collaboration with Natural Resources Wales. It undertook work to ‘Build Back Better’ the culvert inlet along Pentre Road, with the focus on debris control and overflow structures embedded into the project.
- Completed an overland flow interception scheme in Pentre Road –installing several additional drainage structures aimed at intercepting and mitigating any potential overland flow from the Pentre Road inlet area.
- Completed an overflow structure next to Lewis Street and Pleasant Street – installing and over-land flow control route which aims to mitigate flows generated by ordinary watercourse manholes within Lower Pentre.
- Completed a flood routing scheme at Pentre Park – targeting an upgrade to an ordinary watercourse culvert, through the installation of a large catchpit manhole, to reduce the risk of debris entering the culvert.
- Completed surface water overflow connection at Lewis Street with Dwr Cymru Welsh Water –constructing a high-level overflow to increase the capacity of the highway drainage infrastructure.
- Completed an upgrade to an overflow manhole in Volunteer Street – upgrading an ordinary watercourse manhole that overflows into a nearby pumping station. This has maximised the capacity of the existing infrastructure and provides resilience to the pumping station.
- Completed repairs to existing ordinary watercourse manholes at several locations, following the identification of storm damage. Several ordinary watercourse manholes have been repaired and enhanced.
- Highway drainage repairs across the community of Pentre, to infrastructure that became blocked and damaged during Storm Dennis. This aimed to reinstate the highway drainage infrastructure’s capacity.
- Completed structural rehabilitation works to ordinary watercourse culverts through Pentre. Advanced works was completed that delivered structural rehabilitation of several of the ordinary watercourse culverts. This aimed to reduce the risk of future structural failure of the networks.
Posted on 21/08/2024