A last minute scramble for seats at a public meeting in Llanrwst to discuss flooding resulted in a healthy turnout today.

The public meeting organised by Conservative Assembly Member Janet Finch-Saunders was the opportunity for residents to discuss their difficulties over the past number of weeks whilst hearing from people responsible for making decisions about tackling the problem.

Representitives were present from an number of interested parties including the Llanrwst Flood Action Group, Conwy County Borough Council, National Rail and Llanrwst Town Council. Local MP Robin Millar was also present to hear what residents had to say.

The tone of the meeting at the Eagles Hotel was generally frank but forthright with concerned residents and businesses united in the view that flooding is now happening far too frequently in the Conwy Valley.

A local resident was angry at what was claimed to be a lack of preparation by the Council before the flooding hit. A representitive from Conwy Council countered and reiterated the effort that had been put in to help residents with teams working round the clock.

Ms. Finch-Saunders reiterated her determination to influence an independent inquiry on the flooding following an earlier review between National Resources Wales and Conwy Council which she says failed to tackle the issue, but this has so far been resisted.

Attempts to ask questions on the matter in the Senedd with Environment Minister Lesley Griffiths resulted in heated words earlier in the week.

National Resources Wales were now working with Conwy County Borough Council to compile a report for Welsh Government.

Yesterday it was revealed that Ms. Finch-Saunders has received a commitment from the Welsh Government that flood resilience action will be considered for the A470 north of Llanrwst.

Following concerns raised about the number of times the A470 has had to close to the north of Llanrwst due to flooding, Ken Skates AM, Minister for Economy, Transport, and North Wales, responded advising that he would expect funding from the Welsh Government road resilience fund to be made available for the section of road affected by recent flooding.

Commenting on the response received from the Minister, Janet said: “During almost every flood in the Conwy Valley the A470 to the North of Llanrwst is closed.

“Access to Llanrwst is extremely restricted, and the community is left feeling isolated. This is despite the Welsh Government having recently invested in improvements between Penloyn and Tan Lan, and in Maenan.

“Traffic is forced off the trunk road onto the maze of the local authority managed lanes in Eglwysbach, Maenan, and Llanddoged. These roads simply cannot cope with any significant volume of traffic going in both directions.

“I welcome the fact that the Minister has acknowledged the need for action to help create a feasible route for individuals needing to travel up and down the east of the Conwy Valley during floods.

More feedback on the actions to be taken by Welsh Government and the statutory bodies are expected to be announced as reports are submitted and discussed.