A BREAKWATER should be constructed at the mouth of Aberaeron harbour to save the town from a major flooding event, a local yachtsman has warned.

Nick Sawyer, who founded the Aberaeron Flood Reaction Group, is calling on the council to ensure a breakwater — a structure which extends into the sea to protect harbours and ports from high winds and large waves — to be constructed in the harbour.

Speaking to the Cambrian News this week, Mr Sawyer, a former forensic scientist who is Commodore of Aberaeron Yacht Club, said original plans for the harbour published in 1807, included designs for a breakwater, and claimed the lack of such a structure is leaving the town unprotected.

“We do have this problem when a north-westerly wind is blowing, combined with a high spring tide and high swell. Quay Parade starts flooding, and properties get flooded,” said Mr Sawyer, whose boat is moored in the harbour.

“The last time it happened was in 2014. If it happened in 2014, it could happen at any time.

“The concern is that, with the threat of sea level rises with climate change, that it is going to cause big problems.

“If they had reverted back to how the harbour was designed in 1807, the sea would be calm.

“If you look at Portsmouth Harbour, the water comes to within six inches of the quayside, but it is not a threat because the water is calm as there is a huge breakwater.”

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