Inquiry focus on flood experience
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/wales/8083942.stm Version 0 of 1. Victims of flooding in Wales are being given the chance to pass on their personal experiences to assembly members. It is part of a wider inquiry being held by the assembly's sustainability committee on the issue of floods. Two meetings are being held on Friday to hear the views of members of the public, one at Rossett in Wrexham, and at Trehafod, Rhondda Cynon Taf. Both areas have been badly hit by flooding in recent years. Communities around the Wrexham area were devastated by flood water in the autumn of 2000, with the repair bill running into millions of pounds. It led to an emergency flood defence scheme being completed at Bangor-on-Dee in record time, at the cost of £1.1m. Last year saw parts of Rhondda Cynon Taf swamped by storms in September, with some residents forced to leave their homes in areas around Pontypridd and Mountain Ash. "Flooding is something that sadly impacts on many parts of Wales and when it happens it has a devastating affect on people and their lives," said the Wrexham AM, Lesley Griffith, who will be at Friday's meeting in Rossett. Video evidence "That is why the assembly has launched this new inquiry, to see how the public authorities can best help people and communities deal with, or indeed avoid, the awful consequences of a flood." The current assembly inquiry was launched in April, with an appeal for members of the public to send in their own video films of flooding in their communities. As well as taking evidence from those hit by floods, the inquiry is examining the effectiveness of flood risk advice, the response of insurance companies to the issue, and how authorities and emergency teams react to flooding events. "Flooding is an issue that affects many of us in communities up and down Wales,'' added South Wales Central AM, Leanne Wood, who will be at the inquiry meeting being held at the Rhondda Heritage Park Museum. "We want to use your stories and experiences to make recommendations to the Welsh government and all the other organisations who deal with flooding about how services to you, the voter, can be improved." • The Rossett flood meeting is being held on Friday June 5 at the Village Hall, Station Rd, Rossett between 1700 BST and 1800 BST. The Trehafod meeting is being held at the Rhondda Heritage Park Museum at 1230 BST. |