Express & Echo (City & East Devon Edition)
Sea wall repairs going ‘well’ – but NCI building had to be demolished
THE works to replace the damaged sea wall on Exmouth seafront are said to be progressing ‘well’ – but a building has had to be demolished.
Recent storms caused severe damage to a National Coastwatch Institution (NCI) building, slipway and further sections of the sea wall.
As NCI volunteers had feared, staff from East Devon District Council’s building control considered the building dangerous as it had become severely “undermined and unrepairable” due to the storm. It was decided the only option was to demolish it.
The Harbour View slipway is currently out of commission, but the council is hoping to carry out temporary repairs so that it can be used this summer, with permanent repairs to follow in the autumn under phase two of the works along the seafront.
A council spokesperson said: “East Devon District Council has been working with NCI Exmouth throughout, and we thank them for their assistance, and we sympathise with them over the loss of this building.
“(Our) teams have been working hard on the project, pulling in officers from across the council for extra support.”
The work on phase one of the sea wall repairs along the eastern sec- tion of the wall, near the Sideshore watersports centre, involves a steel sheet pile wall being installed through the ground in line with The Esplanade.
The steel wall will remain unclad during the summer while phase two is planned, with a public consultation later in the year on the finished appearance.
The recent storm damage means phase one steel piling further west- council officers have had to recon- ward along the sea wall to include sider the work schedules for the the sections further damaged in overall scheme, with discussions recent storms. ongoing with the Environment “A further update will be provided Agency and Devon County Council once the original phase of noisy piling as the highways authority. works is completed, which will
The spokesperson added: “At the likely be completed at end of this moment, the plan is to extend the week.
“Additional advice will then hopefully be available on the timings for the extra piling works, needed because of the latest storm damage.”
Despite the changes, the council still hopes to be off site by early June, with workers returning in the autumn to finish the work outside of the main holiday period.