PLANS to rescue 56 homes on the cliff edge at Scarborough could be scuppered by an agreement entered into by the council in 2007, according to watchdogs Natural England.

The organisation’s regional director has also expressed his surprise that planning permission was ever given to build the bungalows when it was known that the land they are built on was at risk of landslip.

He added that, rather than spending £20 million on shoring up the homes at Knipe Point, Cayton Bay – as Scarborough Council is hoping to do – it might be better to relocate the families living in the threatened properties.

Peter Nottage told the Evening News that his organisation would do everything it could to help in the negotiations to find a solution, but he also emphasised that Natural England had a statutory duty to protect certain areas for their geographical importance, and one of the reasons that Cayton Bay is important is specifically the landslip.

“We have a responsibility to protect natural features and part of the importance of the area at Knipe Point is around the process itself and how that develops,” he said.

“We’re fully aware of the interests and importance of the residents. Of course I understand their fears, as a homeowner myself I fully understand that no-one wants to even have to think about their home falling into the sea.”

However, he said that efforts to save the homes on the site could be fruitless because of the 2007 Shoreline Management Policy, which was signed by Scarborough Council and which sets out the framework for the coastline between the Tyne and Filey Bay for the next 100 years. He said that the policy clearly states that there is to be “no active intervention” at Cayton Bay.

Story in the Scarborough Evening News