IT could cost up to £500,000 to refurbish Torfaen’s gullies to help prevent flooding like the deluge which hit Cwmbran last year, a committee heard.

The Torfaen council Cleaner Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee met to discuss flood prevention across the borough.

During the meeting, Andrew Villars, of the highways department, explained that the local authority is currently in a programme of refurbishing gullies with £300,000 already spent. Over half remains to be completed, he added.

However, some costs can be reclaimed if damage has been caused by a third party it was said.

He estimated it would cost between £400,000 and £500,000 to go around all of the gullies, but the council is dealing with the high risk ones first. To deal with the low risk ones will take a couple more years.

The committee was reminded of the extreme weather experienced in Cwmbran in May 2014 that caused flooding to 198 properties.

Torfaen council has since produced a report from its investigation that produced five recommendations.

This included to look at public awareness programmes to inform residents that it is statutory for them to defend their own properties.

During the meeting, members were told that there was not much any organisation could have done to stop the scale of an event like that of May 2014.

Cllr Norma Parish then asked about sewage running onto pavements and roads.

Mr Villars said that foul sewage is the responsibility of Welsh Water. “We know there are sewers, especially in the Cwmbran area, that get overloaded in very heavy rainfall,” he explained.

He said that the council had had meetings with Welsh Water which is getting ready to look at the issue across the whole of Wales.

“Natural Resources Wales are fully aware. In torrential rain the sewage is diluted greatly and not classed as high risk,” he added.

Mr Villars also highlighted that the council has two dedicated gully crews that work on a programme to check each gully.

At the end of the meeting, members felt that they would benefit by being informed about emergencies in their ward as soon as practically possible, and more needs to be done to ensure that partners act appropriately as part of flood mitigation.

Also officers should work out a way to make reporting of flooding incidents easier for the public.