The Government's environmental body has come under fire for being “more interested in wildlife than people”, following floods that devastated North Wales last month.
The Anglesey towns of Beaumaris and Llangefni were among the worst hit areas following severe downpours in late November, causing a landslide to shut a major road and flood businesses.
But despite a promise to work with the local authority on tackling such issues in future, Natural Resources Wales (NRW) has come under attack for not doing enough to stop the River Cefni from bursting its banks.
The claims came during a meeting of Anglesey Council on Tuesday, the authority’s first full gathering since the floods on Wednesday, November 22.
Members eventually passed a motion, calling for a report to be compiled in conjunction with NRW and the Welsh Government, on why there was such widespread damage and how such instances can be avoided in future.
But this was only after the government body came under attack from across the political divide.
Cllr Bob Parry, the Highways, Property and Waste Management Portfolio Holder, said: “There’s a lot of blame on Natural Resources Wales.
“A few years ago they were paying farmers to clear the rivers, but now they’re stopping farmers from opening up the ditches.
“It’s important that NRW clean the River Cefni through the town (of Llangefni).
“There are improvements that can be made by the highways department to help stop further damage, but the rivers are NRW’s responsibility and they will have to pay for it.”
Cllr Bryan Owen, the leader of the opposition independent group, added: “If the blame lies with NRW or Dŵr Cymru (Welsh Water), the impetus should be on this council to go after them and ensure they complete the work.
“It appears to me they (NRW), are more interested in wildlife than people. We need to go after them and get them to do the work.
“Maybe then we can avoid similar scenes and the damage these floods can cause for our ratepayers.”
Cllr Peter Rogers, raising flooding issues in his Bro Aberffraw ward, specifically Dwyran, added: “We’ve got problems, particularly with our ditching.
“We have to learn from these mistakes and put a plan in place.
“It’s heartbreaking to see what these people are going through, which is often down to (a lack of) maintenance.”
In response, Sian Williams from Natural Resources Wales, said: “To suffer flooding is a terrible experience and we sympathise completely with the people of Llangefni who were affected by the recent flood.
“We are working with Anglesey Council to find out how and why it happened and the options we need to look at to reduce the risk in future.
“We’ll be contacting those directly affected very soon to learn from their experiences.”