Wrexham Council consulting on plans to manage flooding across the county borough

There are just two days left for members of the public to have their say on how Wrexham Council can prevent and manage flooding in the county borough.

The local authority is currently consulting on its Draft Flood Risk Management Plan, a document which sets out how it will manage flooding over the next few years.

A changing climate has meant that heavy and frequent downpours have resulted in some parts of Wrexham now experience regular flooding.

Wrexham Council is responsible for surface water, ordinary watercourse and groundwater flooding.

The plan will outline the measures that the council wants to implement over the next six years to raise awareness of flood risk and better protect communities.

It also represents the attitude that we can no longer build our way out of flooding issues, but that we now must work with nature to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

The plan focuses on four areas – prevention, protection, preparedness and recovery and review.

However with increased risk of flooding and a lack of funding, Wrexham Council says it has looked at “measures to reduce the likelihood of flooding using non-structural measures and covering all aspects of flood risk management”.

This includes raising awareness of flooding and better understanding of local flooding issues.

The plan identifies thousands of homes in Wrexham that are at risk of river and surface level flooding, as shown in the table below.

It continues onto highlight the specific areas most at risk of a combined flood risk, this includes Bangor-on-Dee, Wrexham City, Cefn Mawr and Acrefair.

Communities that exhibit elevated levels of flood risk are:-

• Chirk
• Glyn Ceiriog
• Llan-y-Pwll
• Penycae
• Rhosllannerchrugog
• Rossett and Burton

The consultation itself highlights that the plan focuses on identifying risk rather than highways maintenance as gully cleaning.

It also asks if participants agree with with the flood risk issues set out within the plan, what you consider to be the highest priorities for managing the risks and how you find the objectives of the plan itself.

A spokesperson for Wrexham Council said: “Wrexham County Borough Council is responsible for surface water, ordinary watercourse and groundwater flooding.

“This plan will outline the measures that we want to implement over the next six years to raise awareness of flood risk and better protect communities.

“This plan also represents the attitude that we can no longer build our way out of flooding issues, but that we now must work with nature to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

“Flooding affects many people throughout the county and you do not have to be near a river to flood, so it’s important to have your say on how flooding will be managed.

“You can have your say by visiting our ‘your voice platform and taking the survey.

“The survey should take about 10 minutes to complete once you have read the plan. The consultation will be open until Friday 9 February.”

You can read the report in full and take part in the public consultation here