The Secretary of State for Wales has said Welsh Government can contact him if landslide problems in Nefyn “are beyond anything they can cope with”.
The offer came during Simon Hart’s visit to Llandudno for a whistle-stop campaign opportunity in support of the Welsh Conservatives’ Aberconwy Senedd candidate, Janet Finch-Saunders.
Mr Hart was also due to appear at the Tories’ Senedd manifesto launch in Wrexham today.
Responding to the shocking landslip on the coast at Nefyn on Monday, which took away the gardens of properties near the cliff’s edge, he said it highlighted the dangers of a changing climate.
He said: “These things seem to be happening more and more these days. Whether it’s to do with changing climate or whatever, I’ve seen a couple, not quite so bad, down in West Wales.
“Of course it’s a matter for Welsh Government but we have always been very open with them, about if there’s a serious problem, let’s look at these things jointly and see if there are areas in which we can potentially help.
“If Welsh Government feels that it’s beyond anything they can cope with, and the advice points to remedial action being very necessary urgently, then of course it’s worth coming and talking to me and talking to the treasury.”
Mr Hart said it was “technically and according to the law” a Welsh Government issue “first and foremost” but said UK Government would always look at ways to “get round legal problems” with devolution and find ways to “help out”.
He was quick to point out he wasn’t making a promise but his department realised such incidents had a “big impact on local areas”.
He added: “We shouldn’t be too restrictive in the way we try to deal with it.”
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