HUNDREDS of properties in Scarborough’s North Bay could be at risk unless vital work is carried out to bolster the existing sea wall defences, it has been claimed.

A recent inspection revealed the need for “urgent” emergency work to be carried out to stabilise sections of the sea wall to prevent breaches of the defences.

Many large hotels and residential properties would be under threat if the wall failed. Scarborough Council’s Cabinet agreed to accept £87,000 from the Environment Agency for the project and will appoint consultants to investigate to best way to carry out the vital work.

Pauline Elliott, the council’s head of planning and regeneration, said: “The engineers’ report noted a large list of faults.

“About 295 properties have been identified at risk of possible loss behind the defences within the short term and medium term should the defences fail.”

She added: “Over the long term it is anticipated that further significant loss of property would occur.”

Some of the highlighted defects include displaced and fractured blockwork and erosion at the foundations of the defences.

She added: “Consequences of seawall failure for this area would include the loss of tourism, loss of infrastructure and the loss of environment including both historic and natural.”

Consultants are expected to be in place by the beginning of the year, with the report produced by the end of February, and a submission made to the Environment Agency next March – if further funding is secured then the matter will be presented to Cabinet next September.

Mrs Elliott said: “Scarborough North Bay has formed over many years through the cutting back of the high till coastal slopes between the Scalby Ness and Castle headlands.

“As a result of the very square natural shape of the bay it is exposed to an aggressive dominant north easterly wave direction.

“The age of the original hard defence structures, not included in the Castle Headland Coast Protection works in 2002, date to 1890. However, additions and improvements were made to various sections in the 1920s, 1950s and most recently the 1970s.

“Behind the defences are large dormant and locally active coastal slopes consisting of glacial till overlaying sand and mudstone.

“Immediately above the coastal slopes are situated many large historic hotels and residential properties, all potentially at risk should the wall fail.”

The general issues of sea defences and coastal erosion were brought into focus in June 1993 with the collapse of the Holbeck Hall Hotel.

Last year a new landslide caused the complete and permanent closure of a section of Scarborough’s Filey Road.

The landslip was near the Knipe Point residential estate, where three houses were demolished because of another destructive landslide in early-2008.

Two bungalows left teetering dangerously on the cliff edge were demolished later that month, followed by a third bungalow weeks later.

Story in the Scarborough Evening News

SURVEYS to pave the way for a major overhaul of Scarborough’s crumbling sea defences, one of the most ambitious schemes of its kind in the country, are taking place this month.

The Geotechnical surveys are being undertaken in Scarborough’s South Bay to provide information for a proposed multi-million pound scheme to improve the sea defences around the town’s historic Spa complex.

The investigation is the latest stage in a three-year study being funded by a grant from the Environment Agency.

If given the final go-ahead, the project would herald the most significant change to the seafront in Scarborough since the massive development during the Victorian era, bringing with it the opportunity to attract a wave of new investment in the resort.

One option could see the protective barriers being built further off the coast, which has the potential to transform the resort’s South Bay.

Senior councillors involved with the project have told the Yorkshire Post the proposals could provoke controversy, but are vital to safeguard the future of Scarborough.

The investigations into the ground conditions will be carried out on the beach in front of the sea wall by the Spa Complex.

The work, which is expected to take around a week, will involve digging holes on the beach to determine the depth to the bedrock underneath the sand and to take samples.

The latest research is part of a coastal defence strategy which was adopted by the council in January 2000 amid growing concerns that existing structures could fail and were in need of major improvements.

The council insists it has learnt lessons from the High Point Rendel scandal between 2002 and 2005, where it illegally consulted the company over a scheme that eventually cost tens of millions of pounds more than the initial estimates on which the contract was awarded.

Story in the Yorkshire Post

OVER £6 million has been allocated to Scarborough Borough Council (SBC) to be spent on coastal risk management projects over the next four years – but only £500, 000 has been earmarked for Whitby.

The biggest chunk of funding, from the Environment Agency, is just over £3 million which has been allocated to SBC for the Strategic Coast Monitoring programme because it is the lead authority for all the coastal councils from the Scottish borders to Flamborough Head.

Over the next five years that money will be used to continue the coastal monitoring and data collection along the north east coast region.

SBC says Whitby and Staithes will see “significant investment” with less than £500, 000 worth of works while Filey gets well over £1 million.

£500, 000 will be spent on the Filey Coast Outflanking Defence Study and associated works and £450,000 will go on the Filey Coastal Slope Study and subsequent cliff stabilisation works.

A further £160, 000 is being spent on investigations into coastal slope ground movement at Flat Cliffs near Filey.

Also ongoing is the £1 million “Pathfinder” project aimed at helping the residents at Knipe Point near Cayton Bay to adapt to the coastal cliff instability.

At Scarborough, work will be focused on the Spa frontage where the Scarborough Coastal Strategy has identified it should be the next priority for capital investment to “help secure the integrity” of the redeveloped Spa complex which is due to be finished in May.

However, some other Environment Agency money is also being used to complete the repair work at the East Pier extension in Whitby after being put on hold last year because of poor sea conditions.

Ongoing studies – separate from the latest announcement by the Environment Agency – include the development of a coastal Strategy for the Robin Hood’s Bay coastline, which sets out how the coastline between Whitby and Cloughton should be managed over the next century taking into account climate change and whether the council should take action.

John Riby, SBC head of technical services, said: “The announcement by the Environment Agency demonstrates the level of confidence it has in the council to manage and deliver coastal risk management projects locally, and on behalf of others.

“It is a significant slice of funding, particularly in these austere times, that will ultimately help communities along our coast cope with natural events like erosion and coastal cliff instabilty.”

Story in the Whitby Gazette

THE full cost of preventing the destruction of Scarborough’s sea defences has soared to £221 million.

The height of many of the old sea walls is insufficient to prevent severe wave overtopping which causes damage to the promenades and adjacent area, presenting a serious risk to public safety.

The figure, for the Scarborough Holbeck to Scalby Mills Coastal Defence Strategy, was put forward in an annual report to Scarborough Council by Cllr Andrew Backhouse, its portfolio holder for coastal defences.

Cllr Backhouse added the strategy was due for “imminent” approval by the Environment Agency.

The council has adopted a policy of “holding the line” on the sea defences between Holbeck and Scalby Mills, including the Sea Life Centre, North Bay Cliffs, Clarence Gardens, The Holms, Foreshore Road, South Cliff Gardens, Rose Garden, South Bay Pool and Holbeck Gardens.

The one exception to this is along the Spa and Spa Chalet frontage where an ‘advance the line’ policy could be adopted, potentially leading to a new sea wall being built in front of the existing wall, which would then be protected by rock armour. Work to protect the sea wall, buildings and cliffs along South Cliff is estimated to cost tens of millions of pounds.

But experts have suggested a further £162 million may need to be spent on various schemes to be covered by Government grants. Consultant Royal Haskoning has begun site investigations as part of a three-year feasibility study around the Spa Complex, funded by a £600,000 grant from the Environment Agency.

Cllr Backhouse said: “We have to protect the coastline to keep the unique character of Scarborough, but not in such a way that is ‘cold’ or industrial. Whatever we do has to be sympathetic to the area.”
Work will take place in two stages, the second of which will only start once further funding is approved by the Environment Agency.

Story in the Scarborough Evening News

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

AN organisation that represents farmers and landowners in Scarborough has condemned plans to remove safeguards in the new public right of access to the English coast.

The Country and Land Business Association (CLA) says it is shocked that Natural England, the official conservation and wildlife body, wants to remove safeguards that would have stopped the public walking across private gardens and parks.

The rural economy experts say it is “astonishing” that Natural England told the House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee it had drawn up a map showing up to 5,000 gardens and parks could be hit.

A spokesman for the regional CLA covering Yorkshire, said: “It is extraordinary that Natural England thinks this is an acceptable way to act. We find it outrageous that the right of householders to enjoy the privacy of their own coastal gardens is at threat.”

At the meeting Natural England said rural property owners would just have to “trust” them on being fair in the implementation of the coastal access plans published recently in the draft Marine Bill.

Story by Trevor Hayes on the Scarborough Evening News website