An independent dog rescue centre in Carmarthenshire has been blighted by flooding - so much so that the owner had to take a cancer-stricken dog to receive chemotherapy treatment in a small boat. Lizzie’s Barn Sanctuary, located between the towns of Kidwelly and Trimsaran, is a small, non-profit dog rescue centre.
It has been run by Fionna Ashman for more than 20 years, but the flooding the property endures on an increasingly regular basis has left her feeling totally isolated and helpless. Sometimes the flooding is so bad that Fionna - and all the dogs she cares for - can’t even set foot out of the house because the whole of the outside has turned into an expanded river. You can keep up to date with the latest Carmarthenshire news by signing up to the local newsletter here.
The sanctuary is on Capel Teilo Road - alongside the River Gwendraeth - which consistently floods during periods of heavy rain. According to Fionna, Saturday represents the 30th day in the past three and a half months that her, her family and her dogs have been stranded at the property. On Thursday, she had to take one of her dogs - Doris - to the vets for chemotherapy treatment, but soon realised that she was trapped, with all roads to and from the property under water. She resorted to using a small boat and rowed her way to a waiting car at the top of the road.
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“I’m sick of it,” said Fionna. “It’s got worse and worse and worse, and it just feels like we are expendable. We are trapped here. There’s always been issues during periods of heavy rain but then things would improve with low tide, but now it lasts longer and longer, with more and more water coming down here. The animals are fine, except they can’t go outside and run in the field, but it’s the effect on humans too.
"My mother is in her 80s and lives here. I thought I would have to put her in the boat the other night too just to get her home. The council has said it’s not their responsibility, Natural Resources Wales (NRW) has said it’s not their responsibility, and it seems that anything they do is going to cost a lot of money and take years. Our property has been ruined, our lives have been ruined.”
Fionna said that while the flooding is worse and more of a problem during the winter months, it’s not uncommon for it to happen at times in spring and summer too. She said that the river near her house should have been dredged in an effort to alleviate the flooding - something that hasn’t happened. “I would like the problem to be sorted out and for us to be compensated,” she added. “We are not even getting appropriate warnings. When we get a flood alert we are usually already under water.”
Fionna expressed her frustration with the latest bout of flooding on social media and asked NRW, Carmarthenshire Council and the Welsh Government what they intended to do about it. Carmarthenshire Council explained to Wales Online that it is not responsible for the management of flood risks of main rivers in the county, including the River Gwendraeth. NRW has also been asked for a response from Wales Online.
A spokesman for the Welsh Government said: “Very sadly, we have once again seen the damage flooding can cause, which is why reducing the risk from flooding and sea-level rise is a priority for us. We are providing record levels of funding to our flood risk management authorities to help protect homes and businesses across Wales.
"Over the last government term we invested over £390m in flood and coastal erosion risk management through two programmes, reducing risk to more than 47,000 properties across Wales. This financial year we are investing more than £71m across Wales through local authorities and Natural Resources Wales. This includes work building new flood assets, maintenance of existing assets, development of future schemes, natural flood management, property flood resilience measures, mapping, modelling and awareness raising.”
A spokesman for Natural Resources Wales said: "Natural Resources Wales (NRW) has been in regular communication with Lizzie’s Barn Sanctuary and other nearby residents for a number of years about their concerns around flood risk from the River Gwendraeth. We fully understand how distressing it can be when faced with flooding, and sympathise with their situation.
"However, by virtue of Gwendraeth Fawr’s topography, the low-lying land adjacent to the river has always been and will always be a flood plain. NRW does not have a legal duty to prevent flooding and is not liable for any damage or losses arising from flooding in these circumstances.
"To protect the community from tidal flooding, NRW has a tidal flap valve on the river Gwendraeth approximately a mile downstream from the animal sanctuary as part of the costal defence. This closes during high tides to prevent seawater inundation of the floodplain. When open, this can only drain so much water in a day, and if the level of rainfall in the catchment is higher than that of the water being drained, this adds to the flooding issue. Removal of this valve would make the flooding issues there significantly worse.
"When considering how to defend areas most at risk, NRW will always work with local communities to identify the best combination of measures that tackle the specific threats. In doing that, and with the increasing impact of climate change on flood risk in Wales, we have to carefully consider how and where we invest resources to ensure they are directed to areas where the risk is greatest.
"In this case, we have inspected the river to check areas of concern raised by the residents and investigated potential benefits that dredging could have. This would have little effect in the short or long term in this area. Flood defences will always be at the heart of managing the nation’s risk - but they are not the silver bullet, and we need to accept that in some cases, there will be flooding impacts on communities. We all need to adapt to the changing climate, which means making big decisions about how and where we live and work, and learning to live with more water and do so better than ever before."
Read next:
- Man left devastated after his home was flooded for the third time
- 90-year-old woman forced to move out of home after flooding
- Golfing centre left underwater in flooding weeks after being hit by lightning
- Cars abandoned and submerged as village road turns into river
- Mountain road turns into waterfall as flooding hits Wales
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