Holding Back the Floods Week In Week Out

Winter's back, and so are the floods.

Tonight, a community that's still trying to recover from last years'

devastation. It was a nightmare. We didn't know where the water was

coming from. We should have been happy in our new home.

It was the estate that wasn't meant to flood, so what went wrong? Lots

of things could have been done better. It beggars belief they

didn't check the levels. In Wales, tens of thousands of us

live on flood plains. Should we build on flood plains? No. But what

about those who've just set up home on one? I'm putting my hope in the

authorities. Welcome to the Glasdir Estate, a

development with two-, three- and four-bedroom properties. Great for

young families. It is a lovely market town in the countryside. Good

schools, good services. It's a nice location in the

picturesque town of Ruthin. Iterated our circumstances perfectly. I love

the area. I don't want to leave. Near town and country, it has

stunning views across the Clwyd Valley.

We were happy that everything seemed to be in order. What happened on the

27th was a shock for us all. The state should have just made the

headlines as a local success story, a much-needed development for the

area, homes for young families. Instead it was hit by some of the

worst floods seen last year. Why? This estimate is built right in the

middle of a flood plain. -- this state. And despite all the promises

from the authorities and developers, the water flooded in. It was a

nightmare. It changed our life. It was one of those days. All day long

you think I'm going to wake up from this nightmare, I'm going to be able

to go home and sleep in bed with my babies stop my husband goes outside.

It is pitch black. He says, Poppy, the water is coming to the house. I

was eight months pregnant at the time, and had a 2.5-year-old boy. It

has been stressful since that morning. We didn't know where the

water was coming from and where it would rise, unaware that the back

Gordon -- garden was full of water to a couple of feet high. Between

realising the river had breached and the water was into the estate, was

about half an hour or less. By the time we left, there was water in the

kitchen. It was coming in through the doors. It was coming in through

the front door. Things were starting to float away. There was nothing we

could save. We switched off the power. I was sold on the

developments that it would not flood. I have some persuading to do

with Leanne to get her to buy into the idea.

These houses proved popular with locals and those moving into the

area. Near the town, where there are good schools and a new link-road,

all ticking the right boxes, especially for young families.

But people didn't move in blindly. Poppy Williams wanted to know of any

flood risk. Her story of reassurance is one that is echoed across the

estate. When we bought the properties, a lot of the locals,

myself one of them, knew this was a flood plain. The question, as far as

I know, we all asked the sales people was, you have built on the

flood plain. What have you done about it to make sure the properties

don't flood? We were told that millions of pounds had been spent on

flood defences. Their attitude was almost, why are you asking this

question? Everyone knows it is not going to flood now. Lo and behold,

it floods. We were provided with an environmental statement which set

out the measures that had been taken in relation to flood defence,

including appropriate floor levels. I have read there would only be one

flood in 1000 years. This document states that even in that event, we

would be protected from water coming into our properties. That is what we

were told. It was back in 2000 that plans to

develop land at Glasdir were set out. But because it was on a flood

plain, that risk would have to be managed. It was going to be

protected from the River Clwyd bursting its banks with a

three-layered defence. First, a new road complete with

culverts. It would protect from flooding to the north, and the

culverts would drain water away from the houses.

Secondly, there was to be a bund, a wall of earth to raise the entire

development area high enough to keep anything but a one in 1,000-year

storm from flooding the estate. Finally, the floor levels of the

houses themselves were built to 20 centimetres above the height of the

bund. The road, culverts and the grassed

over defence wall were built by the Welsh Development Agency to

standards recommended by the Environment Agency, and all passed

by Denbighshire County council. This is the land that runs towards

the culvert under the road. Let's go and investigate. Let's investigate.

Investigate? During September last year,

residents filmed the defences dealing with a miniature flood after

heavy rain. There was somewhat that came through. We thought, brilliant

from the system seems to be working, and thought no more of it. It was

something a bit different that we were not used to seeing. We were

happy that everything seemed to be in order. In September, where the

water had come over the field and had run through the culverts, we

thought it was all in hand, all above board. We had got them all

singing, all dancing defence system in place.

But two months later the rain came back, and this time the flood

defences failed. 122 homes were flooded.

And the end of August, this long-awaited independent report

commissioned by Denbighshire county council into the flooding was

released. It is a ruckman critical in parks, and came up with plenty of

conclusions and nominations. But many residents feel it skirted over

some crucial issues. To my right, the report by the

author. The report was chaired by this

chartered engineer. She listed a catalogue of failures. The link road

built by the Welsh Development Agency acted as a dam. The design of

the culvert screens didn't meet industry standards, and they were

blocked. Defences that were supposed to withstand a one in a 1,000-year

flood failed against a flood a fifth of that magnitude. So who is

assuming responsibility? What the report is clearly saying is that the

blockage of the culverts contributed. What I think it doesn't

say clearly, and perhaps it is difficult to determine, is how the

blockage was caused. If the blockage was caused purely because of

maintenance, I think there is a friend of -- finger pointing at us.

If it was caused by broader factors, it is not clear.

The report had stopped short of laying any blame, to the

frustrations of many Glasdir residents. We went back to the

council and expert and said, we are not happy with this report. It

doesn't answer all the questions. We understood they would be answered in

the report. They are not. Please answer them. Essentially, they were

not answered and they remain unanswered.

But it's not just the council who is under the spotlight. The Environment

Agency, now National Resources Wales, have responsibilities too.

But not, it seems, for maintenance. The structure we are talking about,

which is a highway with pipes underneath it, would not have been

part of our maintenance procedures. Isn't it part of the problem when we

have flooding in Wales that there are grey areas? Who is responsible

and who takes charge of maintaining and make sure culverts and grills

are clear? There are grey areas in people's understanding of

responsibility. But I am clear that as far as authorities are concerned,

there is clear demarcation of who is responsible for what.

He may be clear, but the residents aren't.

The screens on the culverts that were blocked have been taken off and

temporary sandbags have been stacked on top of the bund, steps taken to

reassure those living there. The flood measures are bright white

sandbags! While some people might think that gives you assurances, in

the event of a flood, they do very little. As a county, regardless of

what happened on the day, Denbighshire have a duty of care to

find out what the problem was, who put the link road in, why it was

designed in that way, why there are only a few culverts for over 100 and

houses. -- over 150 houses. Home owners have formed a committee to

try and get some answers. You would all have seen this on Facebook. It

is a piece of paper setting out what our floor numbers are. One key

question is the floor level of their homes. It's an integral part of the

promised flood defences. But as they tried to check the levels, they were

in for a surprise. We have seen approved plans that show our

property should get a certain height, approximately 55 centimetres

higher than it is. We have 15 centimetres, approximately, of water

in the house. To my mind, that does suggest that had we been at the

correct level, ie 50 centimetres higher, we may not have had water in

the property. Considering the nature of the estate and where it was

built, and considering the flood risk, it beggars belief that they

didn't check the floor levels. When work began on the Glasdir

Estate, every house was given its own floor level measurement. In

2010, the plans were updated. What residents have found is the majority

of houses have been built to a lower level than the figures listed in

these plans. We have spoken to a dozen residents and compared the

actual measurements of their flaws to the ones referred to in their

plans. All are lower. They, too, believe that they would not have

been flooded if their homes had been built to their plan.

The council admit they didn't give written confirmation that they'd

checked the floor levels, as was required. In fact they can't find

any record that floor levels were checked by them at all. They say the

actual floor levels built meet the Environment Agency's minimum

requirements. The problem is the majority don't meet the floor levels

referred to in the latest 2010 plan. Planning is meant to get housing in

the right place, in resilient places. This is what the planning

process is amount -- meant to avoid. One accurate -- One expert is in no

doubt how important it is to make sure that when you're building on

flood plains, floor level figures need to be spot on. When you are

thinking about what you are telling developers, it should be clear what

floor levels are required. This is about the regulator. It is critical

that standards are set up properly, and ultimately it is a local

authority with the expert help of the Environment Agency to sort the

problem out. Any kind of confusion on that side is going to lead to the

problems you had here. People here have spent a year trying

to get an answer to their questions on floor levels. So far, they say,

they've not had an explanation. Nowhere in that section, and I read

this over and again, nowhere in that section does it answer that

question. So we wanted to ask the council to

explain why there is this discrepancy over floor level

figures. They've declined to be interviewed or answer the question.

The house builders Taylor Wimpey told us that as the council have

asked them to talk to their planning department, it would be premature to

comment. The Environment Agency say it's not their job to check.

On the day of the floods, one of those helping out was the local

councillor and businessman. He thinks residents should have answers

but doesn't believe it's only the council that should be in the

spotlight. I understand the anger and frustration and rightly so. We

need to get the right agencies to get the right answers. We need to

see what evidence about what is not right. But we need to look at the

reports. The council and the Venables Report have raised certain

questions that need answers. ?? YELLOW Plenty of questions then, but

crucially, what about answers? Other failings in the flood defences that

should have kept families' safe are all too obvious. I am not naive

enough to think the river won't burst its banks again. I don't think

it is a once-in-a-lifetime appearance. I think it will happen

again. It is just if the measures put in place will be effective. It

plays on your mind a lot. It is something which will always be

there. I want to believe that those culverts work until I see them

working and I need to know that whoever makes those decisions are

making those decisions properly. I am butting my faith in the 40s and

the council that they won't let it happen again. -- in the authorities.

Glasdir, as in many parts of Wales, is in valley surrounded by steep

hills and near fast flowing rivers. The Welsh Government's own map shows

in green, there are defences, but they'll always be challenged by the

natural path of water. But despite this, we found that 26 other schemes

in flood risk areas in Wales were passed last year alone. Dr Lynda

Yorke of Bangor University studies the science of how rivers and river

valleys work. The simple answer would be not to build on a flood

plain. We need to think about risk. We are living in an uncertain world

and we know we have climate change going on. We have seen in the last

ten to 12 years a lot of incidents of flooding throughout the whole of

the UK. We need to think where we are placing our houses and

businesses. Is the bund adequate for what it needs to do year given the

fact we're on a flood plain and there are over 200 houses here. It

was designed for a particular amount of time. What you had was a flood

wave passing through for a duration of six hours which overtopped the

defence they had built. Rivers are complex things. They are going to

behave in a way that is unpredictable to a certain extent.

They will always be an element of chaos you can't proceed for. --

prepare for. It's the Environment Agency which set that standard. The

bund was not high enough. The reports are telling us that the tent

back wasn't high enough given that the culvert was blocked. The

proposals now to give this added safety factor is that the bund is

raised on the basis it could block again. The council and Taylor Wimpey

have pledged money to raise the bund, but the Welsh Government

haven't decided if they'll help pay for the work. With winter

approaching the threat is still there. Having an embankment outside

the front of the house is not something you want to see every

morning when I open the blinds. Given what has happened, I can't see

how I can never feel comfortable sleeping at night when it rains.

Every time it rains, I used to love listening to the rain in bed, but

now you are constantly looking out of the killings and thinking, is it

going to flood again? -- the curtains. So they use ask when she

was putting her teddies in the bath whether they were waterproof. She

was asking, is the water going to come in again? All the toys we

bought her with -- when she was born, everything went. For people

living here, the attraction of being near open spaces has now become an

eyesore. In fact these concrete culverts which were supposed to

channel flood water discreetly away have become part of the problem.

With those planning the estate defences having to assume they could

be blocked again in any major flood. So how did all the authorities,

after all the promises, get it so wrong? It's not as if flooding is

unknown in Ruthin. 12 years ago the towns other river, the Mwrog, was

regularly flooding and blocking its culvert. ?3.5 million was spent to

divert the stream. Planning for the long term says one expert, is just

plain common sense. They has to be -- it has to be in the front of our

minds that we have to get this right from the beginning. It is not about

what is convenient for developers but what is in the wider public

interest. There is a clear duty for local authorities to plan. Ensuring

to costs -- in short and to costs are higher than getting it right

from the beginning. -- insured once. The road and culverts were built by

the WDA, now part of the Welsh Government. They were adopted by

Denbighshire County Council. Do you know when those culverts were

cleared? The culverts had grills on the outside so it's unlikely the

culverts themselves would have been blocked. What blocked was the

material built up over the entrance to the culverts. The council insists

it was the Environment Agency which passed the culvert screen design.

Who made that decision? The reports show that the culverts and the

screens were at least partially blocked. That elevated water levels

to cause the flooding. The culverts were consented but we maintain the

screens we installed were themselves not designed to industry standards

and would not have helped. Did you notify Denbighshire county council

of that? We weren't aware of it at -- until after the event. We've

since found out the reason the Environment Agency, now NRW, were

unaware of the defect, is because they hadn't asked to see detailed

designs of the culverts, as they would usually. They did put in a

condition, but left it to others to check. There've been details missed

all along the line in the story of Glasdir. What does the man in charge

of the Environment in Wales make of it? The culverts didn't work, the

10th fact didn't work. All the protection was in place, allows by

Denbighshire Council and the Welsh Government and they all failed. It

is shocking what happened in Glasdir last year. I recognise the impact of

the flooding on the people. We are looking at the moment as to how we

respond to Glasdir and all the different elements of that. One of

the primary causes was not simply that the flood defences weren't

adequate but the culverts weren't being feared. It is about the

management of those defences. The maintenance of their flood defence

has left residents bewildered. Two days before the flood I was home and

I was cutting the grass around the culvert area. It might not have

contributed but it may have. We have asked who did that maintenance work

and that is no record of it. Sometimes it is like an in your head

against a brick wall. You ask the same questions and get the same

answers. Those types of things should have been established by the

estate was first built. There's the council have a record how often

those culverts were cleaned? I think there are lessons for us certainly

about how we have a better maintenance regime for the culverts.

There are lots of lessons and lots of things that could have then been

better. That amounting to it was your fault is another thing. Today

the land in front of the culverts is clear. But have lessons really been

learned? Just up the road the scheme built by the council to divert the

Mwrog river could do with some attention. You can see that there is

degree trapped in the crate. -- great. There is a lot of vegetation

downstream and if it flows -- slows overflow coming down it will over

spill. We can engineer lots of solutions but we need to maintain

those so they are workable solutions. We all make choices where

we live. But for those living in Glasdir now, is that choice still

there? Why not move away? I wish I could. The house is worthless. You

would not be able to sell it. We both work to pay the mortgage and we

don't have the spare cash to go somewhere else. We have no choice.

We ask local estate agents to value our house and we say we live in

Glasdir and they say what is the point? You are not going to be able

to sell them as things stand. We wanted to ask Denbighshire County

Council about why they hadn't checked floor levels, why after a

year of asking, residents still have no clarity about the floor levels of

their homes. We wanted to ask the Council as well about the

maintenance of the culverts. They declined to be interviewed on legal

advice. We understand they're already facing claims against them

because of the Glasdir flooding. The local councillor believes people's

frustrations are likely to continue. You don't not that the door if the

ansa isn't there. We need to knock at the right door. We have to be

realistic as well. There are certain things that only certain people are

prepared to answer now and it might be down to the lawyers to extract

that information. The flooding at Glasdir has left problems for the

residents, the council and the developers. Yet could all this have

been avoided? There is a tension here between economic growth and

housing. The planning process is critical. But if you send a message

saying above all else it is growth then you end up with mistakes being

made. That requires a strong national line and it requires the

government in Wales to think hard about what future planning ideas are

going to be. The Planning Minister Carl Sargeant declined to be

interviewed, but in a statement said there is a robust policy of not

building homes in high risk areas. Yet we've discovered that 25 housing

schemes last year alone were given the go-ahead in flood risk areas.

Five of them against all advice. The Environment Minister is spending ?

240 million during this Government on flood defences. What's his view

on how much we build on flood plains? In terms of where we are

building at the moment, that is a matter for planning authorities. I

talk to people about these matters. I talk to local authorities. The

conversations I have with local authorities about this at all about

managing water in a way which protects people's homes. Our task is

to be to predict as far as we can the sort of episodes we can expect

in the future and also to predict different water flows. Then we can

manage flooding in a more intelligent way in the future. In

Glasdir people may have to resort to legal action to find the information

they want. And live with the threat of flooding again this winter. I

don't know what anybody could say to me to make me feel comfortable.

There will always be an undercurrent of we need to be prepared. We have

got boxes upstairs so we can load things. You can have the best will

in the world to be preparing to help somebody but it's important to

listen to the people who have been affected as well. It is incredibly

frustrating when organisations put up a front like they are putting up

and are refusing to accept responsibility. Considering what we

have all been through, I think it is just an acceptable. -- unacceptable.