Aberaeron has brand new £36m flood defences thanks to Ceredigion and the Welsh Government

Too bad the council hasn't figured out just when to shut the floodgates.

A prime example came last week when Storm Bram hit, and residents waited for the floodgates to be shut - they weren't.

County Councillor Elizabeth Evans said the town had a “very narrow escape” from the storm.

The council didn’t deem it emergency enough to shut the shiny new gates meant to keep floodwater away from houses and businesses.

Correspondence between Evans and the council before the storm hit led her to believe there was no solid plan on who, when and how the gates would be closed in the event of an emergency.

She said: “Last weekend was a high tide, a gale force wind, and a river Aeron in full flood.

“A flood alert quickly changed into a flood warning.

“When a flood alert is issued, whether tidal or fluvial, that should be the baseline for the closure of all flood gates.

“We had a very narrow escape.”

Residents were similarly aghast, with Shane Jones stating: “All that spend and no one to close the gates.

“What a farce... having spent all that money on the harbour glass protection scheme, it is useless if there are gaping holes in it.

“You couldn't make it up.”

Evans is now calling to see the plans the council supposedly has to close the gates - for none have appeared despite requests.

On Friday 5 December before the storm she wrote to the council asking when the gates would be closed, but the council responded that there was “no need” with “no risk of property flooding”.

The council wrote that “there are no concerns along Quay Parade and only a small risk in some standing water along the lower level of Pwll Cam”.

The storm caused the popular wooden footbridge to become impassable, something the councillor said “we thought we had all consigned to history” after one of the new floodgates was installed precisely to protect this walkway.

She added: “I am repeating my request for a flood gate closure plan for all the gates in Aberaeron, as this is not currently forthcoming.”

Ceredigion described the decision not to close the gates as an “essential exercise” to inform its operational plan.

But this isn’t the only issue arising with the new flood defences, completed this October.

Named after the Chief Executive of Ceredigion County Council is a huge mound of silt and debris collected on the south side of the harbour entrance as a consequence of the new breakwater, which extends its long protective arm out around the town.

As romantic and practical as this may seem, Eifion’s Mound has made the harbour entrance all but “impassable” to boats.

Sailors using the harbour have said in unison that the expensive new breakwater facing south is the "wrong way round" to protect against the prevailing southerly wind and longshore drift driving northwards.

The breakwater extends out to sea and curves south, collecting shingle and debris pushed up with the prevailing wind and longshore drift northward.

This has caused the already narrow harbour entrance to become narrower still, as any vessel with a depth beyond two feet would struggle to clear the large mound at high tide.

Instead, the council seem to have accidentally created a tidal haven for seabirds and pigeons, who are often seen relaxing on the mound as sailors stare, bewildered by the new island they all told the council would form.

The build-up began during building - construction firm BAM already cleared it once, returning it to the beach from whence it came.

Ceredigion County Council has also acknowledged the problem, issuing a mariners' notice in early November online and in the window of Aberaeron Yacht Club, reminding mariners of their duty to comply with the narrow channel regulations, adding: “We will be monitoring this, and if intervention is required, this will be considered in March 2026.”

Steve Webb, a commodore of the yacht club, said this was the equivalent of “publishing on traffic news that there was a big hole on the M4 but doing nothing about it.”

Jonathan Price-Jones, a retired GP, has moored a boat in the harbour for 32 years: "The new arm has fundamentally altered the wave pattern at the entrance to the harbour and as a consequence is much more difficult to navigate safely.

“If you then add in the complication of the developing shingle mound, the harbour entrance has become dangerous, particularly for inexperienced or visiting boaters.”

The new angle of the entrance forces boats to enter parallel to South Beach, meaning they are at risk of keeling from breaking waves or being spun by the southerly wind as they try to enter the harbour - and that’s before you navigate the mound.

This, coupled with recent fee hikes for mooring in the harbour (rising over 30 per cent in 2023), has left Aberaeron mariners at a loss.

Another harbour user, Rhys Evans, said they were “forceful in their concerns” about the “treacherous” entrance, accusing Ceredigion of ignoring their concerns about the breakwater, describing the consultations they held a “box-ticking exercise”.

However Ceredigion’s response points to the fact that the £36m plans, £4m overbudget, were for flood defences, not harbour improvement.

A spokesperson said “sediment accretion risk” was predicted in the design and could be dealt with by dredging.

Whilst an extension of the South Pier would have been one option considered, they said “it was never put forward as a preferred option from any coastal defence study”, adding: “Understanding why the breakwater extends from the North Pier requires an appreciation and understanding that the greatest risk of flooding to Aberaeron from storm events, as is evidenced by historic coastal flood events within the town, is generally from storms which are accompanied by westerly/north-westerly winds.”

The council is currently consulting engineers about the best way to deal with Eifion’s Mound, adding that it is “essential that time is allowed for the beach to settle”.