Vandals made Cardigan Town more vulnerable to flooding

Vandals made parts of Cardigan Town more vulnerable to flooding by damaging equipment used to monitor vital flood defences, Natural Resources Wales (NRW) has said.

A CCTV camera used to monitor the Mwldan Flood Alleviation Scheme (MFAS) was ripped from its mounting and stolen in November. The incident has been reported to the police.

The CCTV camera allows NRW staff to quickly identify whether the penstocks – which are large metal covers - are open when in use. The penstocks open to allow water to be diverted in case of heavy river flow in the Afon Mwldan.

The camera has since been replaced and there is no evidence to suggest that the MFAS is not in good working order.

Gareth Richards, an NRW Asset Performance Team Leader said, “I don’t think the person or people who have done this understand the potential risk they are putting the town under. The Mwldan Flood Alleviation Scheme has undoubtedly saved parts of the town from serious flooding over the years.

“Although the Mwldan Flood Alleviation Scheme is in good condition and is ready to be put into action at a moment’s notice, it is essential that we can remotely monitor it. If an issue arose while the flood scheme was in use and we had no monitoring capability, flooding could devastate parts of the town in the time it would take to fix the issue.”

NRW is urging anyone who has information about the incident to report it to Dyfed Powys Police, quoting crime reference number DPP/5601/24/11/2021/02/C.