An historic harbour wall that is in poor condition and has been slowly crumbling into the sea is set to get a rescue package.

Waveney District Councillors are being urged next week to adopt a policy to save Southwold Harbour North Quay Wall from further collapse.

Harbour users and council officers have already agreed urgent action needs to be taken to prevent the structure from becoming even more precarious but concerns were raised over where the money to fund the repairs would come from.

That could be solved if councillors agree next week to use the £50,000 budget previously allocated to the Blyth Lower Estuary study – which campaigners say has already been done.

The recommendation before councillors at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday is to extend a previous contract with consultant HR Wallingford to fund two studies.

One is an options appraisal study leading to a recommendation for a major scheme to stabilise the Harbour North wall; the second is a dredging viability assessment to advise on the viability of diverting the existing navigation channel away from the wall failure zone.

Councillors are also urged to take a ‘Reactive – Do Minimum’ approach to manage the risk of wall failure prior to the implementation of the major repair works anticipated.

The recommendations were yesterday welcomed by Sue Allen, chairman of the Blyth Estuary Group based in Southwold, who said: “One of the aims of the group has always been to ensure the future of the harbour wall, so I will be urging councillors to go with the recommendations at next week’s meeting.

“It’s also better to spend the money on repairs to the wall rather than on the Blyth Lower Estuary study, which has virtually been done already.”

The council is obligated as landowner and harbour authority to appropriately manage the risk of collapse at the wall, and Colin Law, deputy leader and portfolio holder for customer access, said: “We are exploring all the options at the moment, so until we have decided on the best way forward it’s hard to discuss it.

“We have to consider both short-term and long-term measures. What we don’t want to do is to have a short-term fix that does not prove to be cost-effective in the long-term.”

As reported in the EDP earlier this month, the future management of the wall is looking more certain after a loan was secured to help set up an ownership trust.

The harbour has been the subject of an ownership dispute for years and last year Waveney District Council, which has run the facility since the 1970s, agreed to start the process to get it signed back over to the town.

The Southwold Harbour Lands Trust has been set up to take over the management of the site and nearby car park and campsite when they are handed back to the town next year.

The harbour, which lies at the mouth of the Blyth estuary, is part of a system of walls which protect businesses, farmland and homes in Southwold, Walberswick, Reydon and Blythburgh from flooding.

The Environment Agency (EA) plans to stop maintaining defences around the estuary over the next 20 years because it cannot afford the estimated £35m needed to repair them.

Story by David Bale in the Eastern Daily Press