PLANS for flood defences in Aberystwyth are set to be consulted on this year, the council has said, as several Ceredigion towns received Welsh Government cash to develop and build schemes of their own.

Plans costing £11 million were launched in 2018 which would have seen Aberystwyth’s sea walls strengthened, flood defence walls heightened and new preventative walls built on the promenade as fears that the town’s seafront is increasingly at risk of severe storm damage.

That plan had hoped to have been in place by 2020, but in 2021 Ceredigion County Council said that “additional survey and modelling work was identified following a review of the Aberystwyth outline business case”.

A consultation was set for last year, but will take place this year.

A council spokesperson told the Cambrian News this week: “Funding from Welsh Government has been secured to continue with the development of the Outline Business Case (OBC) for the Aberystwyth coastal frontage, with the OBC expected to be completed and consulted upon during 2023.

“The OBC is reviewing all aspects of the work undertaken in 2018.

“So it is not possible to say at this stage whether there will be fresh plans or a review of those produced in 2018.”

As plans finally move forward in Aberystwyth - with £188,500 in funding given by Welsh Government to investigate the scheme - plans elsewhere in Ceredigion will also all benefit from Welsh Government flooding funding.

More than £1.7m has been handed to the ongoing sea defence in scheme in Aberaeron which is currently under construction.

Funding has also been secured for Outline Business Cases for flood management schemes in Borth, Capel Bangor, Llandre, Llangrannog and Talybont.

Borth will receive £70,000 to investigate improvements at the Leat and on the Borth to Ynyslas stretch of coast.

Capel Bangor, where severe flooding has closed the A44, has been handed £44,368.

Llandre Village has been given £8,191, Llangrannod handed £18,765 and Talybont has received £30,000 in funding.

The Aberystwyth scheme is looking to protect 442 homes, documents say, while plans for Borth to Ynyslas will save 330 homes.

All those schemes will be administered by Ceredigion County Council.

Natural Resources Wales has also been handed £261,824 in Welsh Government funding towards the detailed design for the Cardigan Flood Risk Management Scheme.

Welsh Government Climate Change Minister Julie James said the Welsh Government was “keeping communities safe from the growing risk of climate change” as she confirmed the record levels of funding for flood risk management for 2023/24 of more than £75m across Wales.

“There can be no doubt that this investment is required,” she said.