Working collaboratively with Ceredigion County Council and Natural Resources Wales, we are developing an outline business case and design for a coastal protection scheme to protect communities in north Ceredigion from the risk of coastal flooding and erosion.
The villages of Borth and Ynyslas are located in an area of high nature conservation and landscape value near the mouth of the Dyfi Estuary in West Wales. They are popular tourist destinations and a vital part of the local economy whilst also the location of vital road and rail links. A shingle ridge is supported by timber groynes and retaining walls and these run along the coast in front of the villages. They are the primary flood defence and are deteriorating quickly.
We reviewed the longlist of options that had previously been explored, identified several new key issues that needed to be considered and supported the council in selecting a shortlist of options for fuller investigation. In the scheme’s next phase we will be assessing and incorporating new economic, environmental and social information into those shortlisted options, then developing an outline business case to identify the option that will deliver the best public value. We will also produce a strategy for funding and procuring the preferred option, helping unlock funding for the scheme. In consultation with the community and stakeholders including Natural Resources Wales, we will develop the outline design for the preferred option.
The area has extensive nature conservation designations including SAC, SSSIs and UNESCO Biosphere reserve and requires careful consideration and extensive stakeholder engagement, which is planned for later in 2020.
The scheme will protect many homes, businesses, tourist and local amenities, the B4353 and the main railway line linking Aberystwyth to the rest of Wales and to England.