Cabinet has approved an updated Flood Action Plan (2026-2028) to operate alongside its existing Local Flood Risk Management Strategy. The newly-approved plan sets priorities for the years ahead and ensures the Council’s activity and investment remains focused on the communities most at risk.
Rhondda Cynon Taf Council is the Lead Local Flood Authority for the County Borough, responsible for local sources of flooding from surface water, ordinary watercourses and groundwater. It has a duty to develop, maintain, apply and monitor a strategy for managing these risks. The Council’s current Strategy (2024-2030) and Action Plan (2024-2026) were previously published in 2025.
While the Council’s responsibilities are outlined above, it is important to note that Natural Resources Wales is the responsible risk management authority for main river flooding, while Welsh Water is responsible for managing the risk of sewer flooding.
Cabinet Members considered a presentation and accompanying report by officers at their meeting on Monday, July 13. It followed a report on a two-year progress review of the existing Flood Action Plan (2024-2026) being considered by the Climate Change, Prosperity & Frontline Services Scrutiny Committee in June 2026, which has informed the new plan’s preparation.
Reviewing and updating the Flood Action Plan for the period 2026-2028
The Council’s Flood Action Plan must be updated every two years, to reflect emerging evidence, demonstrate delivery, and respond to changing risk and climate pressures. Monday’s Cabinet report noted that a key learning from the current period (2024-2026) is that the updated plan needs to be flexible and adaptable, allowing the Council to respond to real-time flood events while continuing to progress longer-term actions and flood alleviation schemes.
In reviewing the current plan, it was also found that an operational response to storms, and subsequent recovery periods, can greatly influence the pace and sequence of planned flood alleviation activity – while post-event learning must continue to inform the programme ahead, even within an agreed plan period. The conclusions of the review are expanded upon in Monday’s Cabinet report.
The new Action Plan for 2026-2028 has several priorities, including a focus on communities at greatest risk; continuing to progress existing flood alleviation schemes; strengthening community preparedness and engagement; and asset management, monitoring and maintenance. The Plan also aims to ensure its actions are realistic and aligned with available resources/funding, and are also flexible in order to respond to storm events and emerging risks.
The Plan is underpinned by five key themes – evidence-led prioritisation, deliverable and sustainable programming, progression of long-term schemes, flexibility and responsiveness, and strengthening resilience. It builds directly from the previous Plan, and will be delivered across complementary scales – County Borough-wide actions, and location-specific actions in high-risk areas.
The full Flood Action Plan is available to view as an Appendix to Monday’s Cabinet report, and will be implemented following approval by Cabinet.
Councillor Andrew Morgan OBE, Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment and Capital Infrastructure, said: “The Council’s Flood Action Plan forms part of its rolling programme of delivery under the Local Risk Management Strategy, and is updated every two years to ensure we are best placed to respond to the growing risk of flooding. The new Plan covers the period from 2026 to 2028 and is now approved by Cabinet – with key priorities to help those communities most at risk, to be as prepared as possible for flood events, and to ensure the actions set out are deliverable.
“An important aspect of our work will be continuing the significant investment in targeted flood alleviation projects in local communities. We’ve delivered well in excess of 100 schemes since Storm Dennis in 2020, and each year we aim to secure significant funding from Welsh Government to support the delivery of our programme. More than £4 million is secured for 2026/27 via the Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Programme and the Small Scale Works Grant, and the overall level of investment even higher than this, with support from Council match-funding within our Highways Capital Programme.
“While we know there is still much more to do, evidence suggests that our investment is working – notably, during Storm Bert in 2024, it was indicated that our infrastructure repairs reduced the flood risk for around 2,200 properties. We also had a particularly wet winter recently, including three Amber weather warnings being issued for rain in the first half of December 2025 alone, during which no significant flooding incidents were reported.
“Adopting the newly-approved Flood Action Plan, we’ll continue to invest in flood alleviation as a key priority area, preparing for future flood events with all the resources available to us. It’s also important to note that this development, preparedness and delivery work goes on all-year round – including the regular cleaning of drains and gullies right throughout the warmer summer months.”
Posted on 23/07/2026