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BREAKING: Beach Management Plan: funding secured

  • by JW

…but urgent action is needed now to tackle erosion at Pennington Point.

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Earlier this year a prototype transparent sea wall was erected as part of the Beach Management Plan:

Beach Management Plan: splash barrier and sea level rises

But in order to get the Plan started, more funds had to be found:

Beach Management Plan: funding latest: bridging the gap: reports

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The prototype sea wall seems to be holding, despite probably vandalism:

Beach Management Plan: splash barrier damaged

And today we hear that the final bit of cash has been secured:

East Devon’s Sidmouth and East Beach Management Plan funding gap of more than £1m now bridged following changes to criteria eastdevon.gov.uk

Big boost for bid to protect Sidmouth from the sea as £1million funding shortfall is bridged | eastdevonnews.co.uk

Sidmouth finally has the £8.7million needed to protect its crumbling cliffs | sidmouthherald.co.uk

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However…

The immediate issue of the crumbling cliffs will not be addressed:

No emergency work planned for crumbling Sidmouth cliffs – with focus on long-term scheme and funding gap | eastdevonnews.co.uk

And today, Sidmouth’s county councillor expresses his concern:

The funding for Sidmouth’s coastal defences is ‘excellent news’, according to a local councillor, but urgent action is needed now to tackle erosion at Pennington Point.

Stuart Hughes is deeply concerned about the series of rock falls there, including one last night, and has repeatedly called for East Devon District Council to take emergency steps to shore up the crumbling cliffs.

The expected £1million government grant bridges the funding gap for the beach management plan, but the project still needs to go through lengthy consultation, design and planning processes before any work can begin.

Councillor welcomes Sidmouth coastal defence funding, but ‘it doesn’t address the present problem’. | sidmouthherald.co.uk

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Cllr Hughes has been pushing for immediate action since March:

Beach Management Plan: emergency survey

Beach Management Plan: emergency revetment

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The main question is whether the ‘preferred option’ is just a waste of money:

Beach Management Plan: the costs of over-engineering

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As there are other options which might actually be preferred by Sidmouth:

Sidmouth Beach Management Plan: Offshore islands would reduce the need to raise the splash wall

2016 Beach Management Plan, a short list of options