A COASTAL community has vowed to continue its fight to have long-term sea defences installed on its shore after the Environment Agency refused to fund the project.

Bootle beach is currently categorised under the government’s Shoreline Management Plan (SMP) as “no active intervention”.

That would mean the beach and nearby Eskmeals gun range road would be allowed to wash away.

An emergency meeting was held with villagers, Copeland Borough Council, Cumbria County Council and the Environment Agency in a bid to get the government to change the policy and defend the beach.

Mike Fell, team leader for the Environment Agency’s flood and coastal risk management group, said the sea defences were not financially viable.

He said: “Our funding now is national funding, and the work we do is prioritised. Would the defences be sustainable? Would you spend £10m to protect two houses?

“It is not a financial option. If we haven’t got the money we can’t do it. It would be cheaper in the long run to move the road back, rather than build a big sea wall to keep the weather back.”

The SMP is a government plan for the country’s coastline defences.

It has written the plan to prioritise which coastlines it will invest cash into saving, and which it will leave for nature to take its course.

The SMP has to be passed by borough councillors before it can be sent back to the government.

Bootle’s borough councillor and ex-Copeland mayor Keith Hitchen said: “We all know the government is strapped for cash, but there are ways and means. We can make things happen if we work together. This plan is not signed off. It won’t get signed off by the majority of councillors if it doesn’t change what it is saying.

“How can we do it, what do we need to do?

“So I’m asking those people who control what happens with the beach at Bootle to sit down with this parish council and say how we can make it happen. I want to make sure we can put some defences on the beach that don’t ruin the beauty of the beach, but enhance it.

“Things have got to change and we will fight all the way along the line. We aren’t just losing a beach, we are losing a national asset.”

Initially residents of Bootle said the borough council, which has been tasked with managing coastal erosion, had stood in the way of installing short-term concrete defences on the beach.

David Bucheli, coastal erosion technician for the borough council, has agreed to back the villagers’ fight to obtain a licence to install the blocks.

He said: “We are all happy about it. I can’t see any issues that would arise. The blocks should be seen as a short-term solution.”

Bootle parish councillor Trudy Harrison said: “Bootle Parish Council is strongly opposing the SMP proposal towards no active intervention, with specific regard to the area of coastline known as Stubb Place. The council is pushing for a decision instead, to manage re-alignment in this 200-metre stretch to protect the road.

“The national park is also positively involved and keen to improve the beach area.

“The next step is to obtain consent and a licence from The Marine and Fisheries Agency, then design a scheme to both protect and enhance the area for all to use and enjoy.

“We now have an active group of supporters, growing by the day, proving the point that, given encouragement and permission, communities will help themselves.”

The road is the only link road to the Ministry of Justice’s Eskmeals Gun range, which employs hundreds of workers.

Managers for the range said work to install the concrete blocks would be organised and funded locally.

Cumbria County Council is in charge of maintaining the road.

Council Highways engineer John Dell said: “The county council has a duty to maintain the surface of the road. The definition of the road is two spades deep. If the road gets washed away, that responsibility gets washed away with it.

“The county council has produced some schemes to defend the road at that point near Bootle. We don’t have defence funding.

“We are not the defence authority, so we have no power to defend the coast. We were going to put things in, but we were refused permission to do this, so we are left with an undefended road.”

The fight to save the beach is part of the Bootle Community Plan, which was launched last month.

The aim is to sustain the village’s falling economy by building houses and restoring tourist attractions, such as the beach.

Story in the North West Evening Mail