Sully and Lavernock Community Council (SLCC) last night rejected requests to contribute to a JustGiving fund to "Help Sully residents affected by flood damage".

Residents set up the fund following the 23 December floods, which saw many Conybeare Road, Winsford Road and Highbridge Close homes take on over a foot of water.

Photographs of Christmas tree islands amid pools of silty water mobilised residents, and the fund has now raised over £10,000 for 12 of the most affected families.

Organisations such as the Saving Sully and Lavernock Group, Barry Rotary Club and the Dinas Rotary Club have contributed alongside a remarkable number of residents.

The Dinas Powys Community Council has allocated £6,000 towards flood aid in Dinas even though they say council income has run dry due to the pandemic.

But despite having "in excess of £50,000" in their reserves, the SLCC voted unanimously to donate nothing to the fund.

According to SLCC Chairman Lino Scaglioni, his council has done nothing to help the flood relief effort.

"The council are very careful with money because there could be a very large payment due from them for the settlement of this suspended clerk business and that could be many, many thousands of pounds," he tells Nub News.

The Association of Local Council Clerks is taking the SLCC to industrial tribunal over the unfair dismissal of the now-deceased ex-clerk David Roberts, who was alleged to have viewed pornography on his work computer.

Chair Scaglioni says the legal proceedings could cost the council "thousands".

"And of course, due to COVID, income has ceased and money has gotten tighter, so it is the view of some councillors to conserve all our payments at the moment," he added.

Hannah Bevmoh, the Chair of the Sully Village Group who started the fund, calls the council's stance the "biggest disaster in the village in my lifetime" and said she is "genuinely hurt for the victims".

"Councillor Tatt said he wasn't comfortable donating when the victims had insurance and swimming pools," she told Nub News. "The Chairman said they already had enough raised.

"Having heard from many affected residents from the beginning, I know just how much they've lost and the huge costs they've faced. They don't have swimming pools and to jump to these assumptions without even contacting those affected is outrageous."

Nub News was unable to attend last night's meeting and can therefore not confirm that the swimming pool reasoning was given.

However, early reports of the meeting caused one flood victim to remark: "The only swimming pool was the one inside the ground floor of our lovely house."

"Last night showed that our Community Council is totally disconnected from the community," Hannah continued. "Prior to the vote they talked about how healthy their finances were, how much they'd improved from last year.

"With over £65,000 of community money sitting in the pot they saw fit to give nothing to the residents who were flooded."