Conwy councillors backed plans to bolster the county’s sea defences in a £59m programme of investment and even Donald Trump got a mention.
The Coastal Risk Management Programme with Welsh Government was discussed at this week’s joint meeting of finance and resource and economy and place scrutiny committees, within Conwy county council.
The scheme commits the authority to revamping sea defences at:
Llanfairfechan – costing £1.88m;
Llandudno – costing either £22,800,000 or £6,700,000 depending on whether both North and West Shore, or just North Shore works are approved by Welsh Government;
Penrhyn Bay – costing £5.185m;
Rhos-on-Sea – costing £13.4m; and an 11km stretch of coast between Llanddulas and Kinmel Bay costing £13.74m
If the entire Llandudno scheme is approved by Welsh Government, Conwy county council would foot the full £59,435,950 bill.
However Welsh Government would refund 85% (£50.5m) of the cost and Conwy would borrow the remaining 15% (£8.9m).
The £59.4m would equate to around 30% of the total funding being allocated by Welsh Government for similar sea defence projects across Wales.
Repayments would cost the council an estimated £212,809 or £371,775 per year over 50 years in capital expenditure, depending on whether interest rates were 1% or 1.5% respectively.
The cost of the scheme would drop by £16.1m overall if only part of the Llandudno scheme was approved by Welsh Government.
The council will also be seeking contributions from businesses that are going to benefit from the sea defence work.
Sea levels are predicted to rise 70cms over the next 100 years, acting flood risk and infrastructure manager Owen Conry told councillors.
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https://www.northwalespioneer.co.uk/news/18920602.59m-bolster-coastal-flood-defences-rhos-sea-llandudno/