RESIDENTS who saw a footpath washed away by recent floods say they now fear for their homes.

Gwttws Footpath, which runs along the river Tarell behind Newton Green in Brecon, was ripped apart by the high water levels on Friday, October 12.

The Parc Tarell housing estate, which is only metres away from the river, is now only protected from the river by an earth bund as well as what is left of the footpath and its supporting wall.

The remaining path, which has since been cordoned off by Dyfed-Powys Police, is now leaning into the water with huge cracks running through the tarmac.

It is now feared the river will subsequently destroy the defence and flood the site in Llanfaes if the river bursts its banks again.

The footpath and its supporting wall made up the first defence against possible flood damage and to protect the bund from being washed away from the river.

A resident said: “The bund is just earth, so if that bank goes and the river does get high like that again, it will be washed away and the estate is going to flood. Hopefully it would go over the golf course, but with things like the direction of the water you just don’t know.

“I’m not convinced really that it is an adequate flood defence. I think it needs a flood wall like the one further down.”

Residents say the cracks first started to appear in the footpath approximately two years ago with a small sinkhole appearing in the last year.

The residents also reported that Powys council workmen attempted to carryout patchwork repairs on the path with a bucket of tarmac in August.

Jessica Barnett, who has lived on the estate for three years, said the condition of the path was bad before it was swept away.

She said: “It got really quite bad, it’s a path which is used a lot by dog walkers and people who are running and the children when they’re playing. I’d be scared of breaking my ankle if I went down there in the dark – it was covered in cracks and craters. I’m not sure I would say it’s a flood risk, but I do think it’s a real shame for the people who use it.”

Other residents have claimed they could hear water flowing under the path in the months before Storm Callum.

Resident Adrian Clark said while they think the path could have done with more maintenance, he didn’t think there was anything to suggest it would collapse.

He said: “I was quite surprised to see it just disappear – it was quite a popular path with the people who live here like dog walkers and as a shortcut into town.

“It could have done with some more TLC but there was nothing to suggest it was just going to vanish. We are concerned about an increased flood risk because the ground and the path just went straight down, and now the rest of it and the bund could do the same.”

Newton Green resident Rose Evans said she has previously raised complaints about the condition of the path with Powys council.

The former town councillor and mayor of Brecon said: “I’ve asked and asked over the years and nothing has been done and it’s now a major job.”

Ms Evans said she was also concerned that Powys council hadn’t put warning signs up at either end of the path on Friday, October 12 to close it and warn people the path was flooded.

Fears over the site date back as far as January 2003 when the 37 houses, which met strong opposition from Llanfaes residents at the time, were still being planned.

The then Environment Agency said in 2003 it was satisfied the field could be developed for housing without being at risk of flooding or increasing the risk of flooding downstream.

The flood bund was installed in Gwttws Field, now Parc Tarell, in 1979 after the river burst its bank flooding Llanfaes.

Powys council cabinet member for highways councillor Phyl Davies said: “We are aware that Gwtws footpath in Brecon has been damaged due to Storm Callum last week and have restricted access to the footpath on safety grounds.

“Discussions have started with our partners including Natural Resources Wales and we will start exploring options to resolve this as soon as possible. However, access to the damaged section of footpath will be restricted for the foreseeable future.”