WITH reference to Becky Carr’s report: ‘Flood plan set for green light’; and A. Nicholaas’s letter: “Well dredged”. Flood defences should be number one priority for Newport and the Gwent Levels. Dredging the River Usk, from Caerleon to Uskmouth, on a regular basis should be an imperative.

All rivers naturally silt. Mud builds up on the river bed and banks. Over a period of time – a decade or so – a river becomes noticeably shallower.

The River Usk has not been sufficiently and regularly dredged since the end of the First World War. Global warming and associated climate change is a scientific fact – now accepted by every responsible nation on the planet.

The result of this phenomenon means that there will be more frequent, prolonged, heavy rainfalls, higher sea level and tides (due ice melts in the Arctic and Antarctic) over decades and centuries to come.

Regular and extensive dredging, plus building robust embankments, are the principal solution to flooding. Catastrophic flood damage to large areas of Newport and the Gwent Levels will occur, in the not too distant future, unless a robust flood prevention plan is initiated, and implemented.

Brian Hayes, Bassaleg, Newport