Welsh Government funding of almost £1m has been secured to develop the next stages of the significant Treorchy Flood Alleviation Scheme – to progress the design of a preferred option that was previously shared with residents.
Last autumn, the Council undertook an engagement exercise that shared proposals to significantly invest in more flood defences for the community – a multi-million pound programme to improve local infrastructure and install a level of flood protection for a 1 in 100-year storm event. The scheme will capture rainwater from upper catchments and direct it through a newly-located culvert system at ground level. It will also introduce above-ground storage features and natural flood risk management features in the upper catchment.
Treorchy was one of the hardest-hit communities during Storm Dennis in February 2020 – and a Section 19 report, published under the Flood and Water Management Act in July 2021, has helped to understand the causes of flooding. The proposals for the future Flood Alleviation Scheme are on top of the significant activity already carried out on the ground in Treorchy since the unprecedented storm, which is summarised at the bottom of this update.
This includes important flood alleviation work that took place on land south of Treorchy Cemetery in 2022 – an initial phase of work that has maintained and upgraded several watercourse assets around the top end of Cemetery Road and Column Street. It included channel reconstruction, culvert lining and repairs, and access improvements to help future maintenance of the area.
The Council has now been awarded £950,000 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 major funding will enable the Council to progress the technical design stage of the scheme over the next 20 months. This activity will essentially progress the design that was shared with the community last summer. The first steps will be to appoint external consultants, 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: “Informed by last autumn’s four-week engagement exercise with the community, officers have continued to develop the major Treorchy Flood Alleviation Scheme – and I’m pleased that £950,000 funding has now been secured from Welsh Government to deliver the full business case and detailed design stages.
“The Council has accelerated its investment to develop and deliver targeted flood alleviation measures in local communities since Storm Dennis, and we continue to welcome important Welsh Government support in this area. More than £4.48m was secured across several funding programmes in 2024/25 – which is being used alongside Council match-funding throughout the year. Specific funding to progress the Pentre Flood Alleviation Scheme, the Arfryn Terrace Flood Alleviation Scheme in Tylorstown, and now the Treorchy Flood Alleviation Scheme, have all recently been confirmed by Welsh Government.
“The Council has also published all 19 of the Section 19 reports to investigate the causes of flooding in Storm Dennis, that are helping to design protection measures. A huge repair programme for structures has also been undertaken over several years since Storm Dennis, with this year’s programme including Castle Inn Footbridge in Treforest, White Bridge in Pontypridd, and Feeder Pipe Footbridge in Abercynon – using £3.61m Welsh Government funding.
“The new funding for the Treorchy Flood Alleviation Scheme will enable external consultants to be appointed and initial survey work to begin, as part of a wider process to progress the technical design phase. The Council will keep a dedicated webpage updated on its website, so residents can find out more and follow the progress of the works over the months ahead.”
The following activity has taken place in Treorchy since Storm Dennis:
- Surveyed around 1km of ordinary watercourses and highway drainage infrastructure. This has been mapped and reviewed, resulting in targeted cleansing and repairs. Around 20 tonnes of debris have been cleared from assets following Storm Dennis.
- Completed a business case for the Upper Rhondda Strategic Flood Risk Area. This 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 an Outline Business Case for the Treorchy Flood Alleviation Scheme. This was used to secure the Full Business Case detailed design stage funding, to continue developing the project.
- Completed significant work as part of the Treorchy Phase 1a Works. This project included improvements to headwalls and manholes, structural lining and upgrading of culvert networks, open channel improvements and upgrades, and was completed during 2022.
- Completed an interim property flood resistance project to those properties deemed to be at high risk of flooding. This project involved the loan of key equipment such as flood gates, air vents and aqua sacs, to mitigate the effects of further storm events in the community while the wider Flood Alleviation Scheme is developed.
- Installed additional remote telemetry units at key locations within the community. The work has provided CCTV units and water sensors to support the monitoring of water flow and the accumulation of debris. This is supporting maintenance and response activities in storm events.
Posted on 25/09/2024