Picturesque coastal town’s flood defences to be completed by midsummer

Bruce Sinclair Local Democracy Reporter

Aberaeron’s coastal defence works aren’t expected to be completed until midsummer, but it is hoped the town will be approaching ‘back to normal’ by Spring, its local councillor has said.

The near-£32m flood defence scheme was recently praised by Deputy First Minister with responsibility for Climate Change, Huw Irranca-Davies, during a visit to see ongoing works.

The £31.59m Aberaeron Coastal Defence Scheme is funded through a £26.85m contribution from the Welsh Government’s Coastal Risk Management Programme, together with a £4.74m contribution from Ceredigion County Council.

Scheme

The scheme includes the construction of a rock breakwater extending out from North Pier, refurbishment and re-building of pier head of South Pier, construction of flood walls, construction of flood gate at Pwll Cam inner harbour and improvements to the existing defences on South Beach.

The scheme itself was approved at the February 2023 meeting of Ceredigion County Council’s Development Management Committee, with BAM Nuttall Ltd the construction contractors.

Speaking from Aberaeron, the Deputy First Minister said: “The scale of the work here in Aberaeron is a real eye opener – and is essential for Aberaeron and its community to be protected for generations to come.

“I am incredibly grateful to the community for their patience during the construction of this scheme. This is a huge civil engineering project occurring within a historic town.

“The scheme is being delivered at pace, and we look forward to the work completing next year.”

The project was initially expected to be completed by January 2025 but unforeseen ground conditions and design challenges have pushed this date back.

Construction

The work currently being undertaken by BAM includes the construction of the north breakwater walkway, the reconstruction of the South Beach rock revetment, and the installation of new timber groynes.

It is also constructing the new Pwll Cam inner harbour gate abutments, excavating and building the new south pier foundation, and installing the main line drainage along Quay Parade, which is also seeing stone cladding and a bi-fold gate installation to the reinforced concrete wall.

However, deposits of clay along South Beach, stability issues relating to South Pier, unforeseen ground conditions and structures within Pwll Cam, and unmapped utility apparatus along Quay Parade have all caused delays.

Local member, Cllr Elizabeth Evans said: “The harbour works should turn a corner after Christmas, but I don’t envisage us being completely clear of the work until June.

“Having said that, it will start to look more ‘back to normal’ in the early Spring. We are all so appreciative of the funding we have received which will protect Aberaeron town and its economic viability for generations to come.

“Having said that, we are also keen to be fully operational as a town again. In 2025 we have much to look forward to with the completion of the harbour works and I am working with Ceredigion officers to re-launch the harbour and to highlight the fact that the harbour and indeed the town, is back in business and fully operational.”

Works to protect Aberaeron from coastal flooding have previously included 2009 works at North Beach which had a significant benefit in protecting the north-western part of the town from overtopping flood risk from the sea, but only addressed part of the flood risk problem.

Storms in December 2013, January 2014 and October 2017 led to the closure of Quay Parade and overtopping of the current defences within the harbour and South Beach.