£6m flood alleviation scheme to protect Bangor completed

Cyngor Gwynedd has completed a project worth nearly £6 million that will protect the Hirael area.

The scheme aims to protect around 200 domestic and commercial properties against the effects of coastal flooding.

The problem could to be exacerbated as the sea level rises and extreme weather becomes more common amid climate change.

For the past ten months, Council engineers have been responsible for the work to install new flood gates and walls.

Pictured: Welsh Government Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs, Huw Irranca-Davies cutting the ribbon on the new defences, with Councillor Beca Roberts, Chair of Cyngor Gwynedd; Councillor Medwyn Hughes, former Chair of Gwynedd Cou

The promendade level has also been raised creating a new slipway; and  a cycle path and to improve other recreational resources in the area.

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The work was funded through the Welsh Government’s Coastal Risk Management Programme.

Chair of Cyngor Gwynedd, Beca Roberts, unveiled a plaque to mark the occasion and community gathered together to celebrate the completion of the project and to learn more about the work.

Councillor Berwyn Parry Jones, Cyngor Gwynedd’s Cabinet Member for Highways, Engineering and Consultancy Department, said: “This important work mitigates flood risk in the Hirael area of Bangor and benefits the whole community.

“I’m sure local people will benefit as well from the recreational improvements that have been made as a result of the work, including the creation of a new path for walkers and cyclists and installing new benches around the promenade.

“The Wales Coast Path and the National Cycle Path go along the promenade, a stone’s throw from Hirael, so this project is a great opportunity to improve links with these two important attractions.”

Some of engineers and officers from Cyngor Gwynedd\'s YGC Service who worked on the project at Hirael, Bangor. (Image Cyngor Gwynedd)

Councillor Berwyn Parry Jones added: “Once the work to improve the sewerage system in the area has been completed by Welsh Water, our officers will be able to return to Lon Traeth to finish minor works.”

The Welsh Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs, Huw Irranca-Davies said: “It was fantastic to visit the Hirael Bay scheme which will reduce the risk of coastal flooding to nearly 200 homes and businesses.

“I saw first-hand how the scheme will also benefit the community by creating an active travel route, which connects the cycle route and coastal path from Eryri through to Bangor Pier.

“We’ve made significant investments to improve Wales’ coastal defence infrastructure in recent years through our Coastal Risk Management Programme (CRMP) investment, with £291m worth of investment over five years and once all 15 schemes across Wales are finished will benefit almost 14,000 properties.”

More information and photos throughout the project are available online

As part of the project, Engineers from Cyngor Gwynedd’s Consultancy Department have been to Ysgol Hirael recently to talk to the children about the impacts of climate change on our communities and how engineering works, such as this project in Hirael, can protect local infrastructure.

During the works, a fig-tree growing from the old sea wall at Hirael – which is of local significance – was moved under the supervision of arboriculture specialists to a spot south of the Lon Traeth east car park, conserving it for the future.