AROUND £2.3 million will be given to Monmouthshire County Council to spend on flood recovery.

Monmouthshire was one of the areas in Wales badly affected by Storm Dennis in February this year in what the deputy leader Cllr Bob Greenland described at the time as “the worst flooding we’ve had in more than 40 years.”

Now, seven months on, the council has been given some details on funding to support the ongoing recovery.

The council’s assistant head of finance, Ruth Donovan, said the council has identified that there will be about £8.8 million of costs expected over the next three years.

She told the council’s economic and development select committee that the council had applied for funding to recuperate these costs from the Welsh Government.

Ms Donovan said the council would be receiving around £2.3 million for 2021.

She said: “We’ve only recently - in the last couple of weeks - received an indication that we will get some of that funding.

“We have a very short window to spend that money.

“It’s not an ideal time of year to be resurfacing roads.

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“Unfortunately, it has come with very little information as to whether we can slip any of this money into next year, if we don’t spend it.

”If we don’t spend it, will it be lost to us?

“So, overall, quite disappointing.”

The Welsh Government gives Monmouthshire County Council £105,000 each year to deliver its statutory functions, while funding for flooding works is also received through environmental body Natural Resources Wales.

Following Storm Dennis, the Welsh Government provided the council with £100,000 to help cope with the immediate response, which included sandbagging hundreds of buildings across the county to try to protect them from rising waters.

Cllr Richard Roden, ward member for Monmouth, said: “In Monmouth we had the worst floods in living memory.

“There were households that were flooded out and the staff of the council supported them incredibly well.

“The picture you paint of poor funding is a worry, and I strongly support your efforts to squeeze out as much money from the Welsh Government as possible.”