Further calls to tackle A4042 flooding at Llanellen

Further calls have been made to tackle flooding on the A4042 at Llanellen.

Member of the Welsh Parliament for Monmouth, Nick Ramsay, has once again called for action by the Welsh Government to prevent the regular flooding that affects the A4042 close to Llanellen Bridge and results in the road having to be closed for long periods.

Although some drainage works aimed at reducing flooding have taken place, this clearly hasn’t solved the problem as evidenced recently. With the A4042 being an important route to the new Grange Hospital this problem needs to be dealt with now.

Speaking during last week’s business statement in the Senedd Nick said: “The usual heavy flooding closed the A4042 at Llanellen recently, during the heavy rain. I know that some remedial work has been done, and the economy and transport Minister announced this not so long ago, but concerns remain about access to the new Grange University Hospital at this time of year. So, I wonder if we could have an update from the Minister on what is being done to make sure that at this time of the year, that road and other key roads in the trunk road network are passable and certainly fit for ambulances and emergency vehicles.”

Rebecca Evans MS replied:” In terms of the request for a statement on flooding, Nick Ramsay specifically has an interest in the trunk road network, and how we can keep that moving. I would invite him to write to the Minister in relation to the specific roads and the specific areas where he has a local concern, but I can say that the Welsh Government has already met its commitment to invest in flood defences and by the end of this Senedd term, we will have invested over £390 million in flood and coastal erosion risk management. That's reduced the risk to over 47,000 properties here in Wales and I think that that does speak to the level of investment that we are putting in, but also the level of risk that there is to property. It's clearly an area where we in Wales will need to continue focusing our efforts in future.”

Mr Ramsay says he will be reiterating his concerns about the A4042 to the Transport Minister urging that this problem is given priority as lives could be lost due to delays reaching The Grange when the road is under water and impassable. Calls for action have repeatedly been dismissed as unnecessary, but the rent flooding has demonstrated that the problem has not been solved.