NATURAL Resources Wales has said a community beset by flooding issues will have to wait for measures to tackle the problem. 

The Sandycroft area has been flooded multiple times in recent years, leaving people having to vacate their homes for months. The latest instance came in October during Storm Babet. 

Calls for action about flooding in Sandycroft came in 2021, and that same year, a joint authority action plan on dealing with flooding issues was produced. But two years on, the same issues remain. 

Last month, an emotive public meeting was held at Sandycroft community centre over the issue. Local councillors, council chiefs and politicians all attended the meeting - which saw residents make impassioned pleas for preventative action to be taken.

In particular, concerns were raised over blocked drains that Natural Resources Wales (NRW) is responsible for. 

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Last week, Alyn & Deeside Senedd Member Jack Sargeant posted on Facebook a copy of a report by NRW regarding the flood issues in the Sandycroft area.

NRW said a proposed scheme of work comprises of: 

  • Clearance of silt and some vegetation along Sandycroft Drain North (mainly from the Bridge Inn to North Street) and possibly sections of Broughton Brook. 
  • Clearance and survey of culverts along Pentre Drain North
  • Repair or replacement of Phoenix Street culvert along Chester Road where necessary. 
  • Improved access to reaches of Sandycroft Drain North to aid blockage removal and future clearance.
  • Improved efficiency of the Sandycroft Drain North tidal outfall, potentially by installing side-hung tidal doors to replace the aging hop-hung flap valve.

However, NRW said progress on the work has "slowed" due to "funding constraints" and that any major clearance and improvement works will be delayed until the next financial year. 

The agency said it aims to have the work completed by late 2024/early 2025, and that the decision to delay it has "not been taken lightly" - and is owed to "growing pressure" on the public sector to find savings. NRW said it has had to "reprofile our spending elsewhere".

Sandycroft councillor Dee Milner, who joined the council due to the flooding issues, said: "Our houses have devalued, our house insurance has gone up, people are at their wits' end and it’s affecting people's mental and physical health. Families have been displaced until after Christmas.

"Now NRW and their delayed timeline, where does this leave our community? To develop our own community flood plan. The flooding gets worse year on year due to the neglect for decades of drains/ditches/culverted drains, increased demand on Victorian drains by huge companies and increasing developments."