The future of Fairbourne was the hot topic of discussion on national radio last week, with residents claiming Gwynedd Council is ignoring them.

Locals and politicians spoke to The Jeremy Vine Show on Radio 2 to air their views on the future of the Meirionnydd village (pictured), which has been ear-marked for ‘decommissioning’ due to rising sea levels, with the local MP saying residents could become the first ‘climate refugees’ in the UK.

A shoreline management plan has warned that Fairbourne will be lost to the sea from 2055 and that a managed retreat is needed, moving all the residents and amenities inland.

As a result, it has been proposed that maintenance work on the sea defences will stop from 2045.

Speaking to The Jeremy Vine Show, local MP, Liz Saville Roberts, said: “We keep talking about climate change. This is the reality. Sea levels are rising at a rate of 5mm a year. Fairbourne is not unique, it just has misfortune of being next to the sea and a river estuary.

“Spring tides are higher than the level Fairbourne stands.

“What concerns people there, there is only so much we can do. This is a social emergency. And we haven’t got up to speed on how we deal with these situations. My heart goes out to these people. This is a slow moving environmental emergency.”

Cllr Catrin Wager, Gwynedd Council Cabinet member for the environment, also spoke, saying: “This is a difficult conversation, but it is the reality of climate change.

“We are trying to have these conversations now. The sea defences can’t last forever. We are trying to work with the community, offering viable options and to keep the community vibrant and safe for as long as possible.

“If we left things as they are, by 2104, Fairbourne would need an eight-metre-high sea wall.

“The Masterplan is suggesting decommissioning from 2045 - dismantle and take things away.

“We have been working with the community, offering emotional support, counselling services and establishing a community interest company to help people save their homes.”

Community councillor Stuart Eves spoke of the human factor this council decision brought.

He said Gwynedd Council was “decomissioning the village with no thought for the people”.

He added: “This is all being handled wrongly, talking about disassembling houses. People still want to live here. Why not allow people to buy the properties? They are taking a suck it and see approach.”

County councillor Louise Hughes,told the show she was ‘furious’ with the way Fairbourne’s future has been handled.

Cllr Hughes said: “Fairbourne was put under the microscope following the Shoreline Management Plan. Fairbourne has never flooded. Amid all these apocolyptic warnings, the community has been ignored. I know the villagers’ concern is the value of their properties. Using words like decommissioning - it’s arid language. Horrid. People deserve financial compensation.”