Denbighshire’s Cabinet Lead Member for Environment, Councillor Sharon Frobisher, braved cold and blustery weather to see first hand the work going on at the £10.4m scheme this week.
After spending time in the visitor centre, situated at the site’s main compound, Councillor Frobisher also saw the work on the training wall, harbour wall and rock armour, which forms phases one and two of the project.
The scheme, which will significantly reduce the threat of flooding to 2139 residential and 560 commercial properties, will use in the region of 7,000 cubic metres of concrete, 60,000 tonnes of rock armour, which has been sourced locally from Halkyn, Raynes and Gwalchmai quarries, not to mention 800 tonnes of steel sheet piling.
Councillor Frobisher said: “It is impressive to see the sheer scale and size of the scheme and the vast amount of huge rocks which are being placed along the sea wall.
“Flood defences are a key priority for Denbighshire and I know that, once finished, thousands of people will be able to rest assured that the threat of flooding has been significantly reduced because of the works.”
The scheme is funded by the European Regional Development Fund and Welsh Government Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management grant.
Martin Wright Associates, together with partners, Cascade Consulting, AECOM, and ABPMer were awarded the contract for the design of the scheme and Morrison, (trading as Galliford Try Infrastructure) are the contractors constructing the works on site.
An essential part of the scheme, as directed by the Welsh Government, is that it must also include a strong element of community engagement and raising awareness of flood resilience. To this end, local schools have been involved in flood resilience workshops and even art projects to decorate the hoardings around the compound and there is a specific website for the scheme at www.rhylcoast.co.uk with regular updates, a Facebook page, Twitter and text alerts on 60066.
Community/Residents Groups in Rhyl who would like a presentation on the scheme or advice on flood resilience please contact Mike Wellington from Martin Wright Associates on 01244 689921 or by email to [email protected]
The Visitor Centre is open on Mondays and Thursday (except during school holidays, when the centre will be open Monday-Friday) Different times can be arranged by calling 01244 677656 in advance
