Efforts are under way to protect 45 homes in Filey from a cliff collapse.
Road to Flat Cliffs will crumble without £500,000 of urgent works to slope
Half a million pounds is to be spent protecting 45 homes in Filey from a possible cliff collapse.
Scarborough Borough Council is set to approve the funding for the urgent works at Flat Cliffs at a meeting on Tuesday.
A report, which will go before the council’s cabinet, has found that the access road to the homes is at risk of failure, cutting off the properties completely.
It states: “If the access road were to be severed, there is no alternative means of the residents gaining access/egress to/ from their properties and, in effect, the community is lost even if their properties remain (for the time being) unaffected directly by erosion.
“If people elect to remain living there, there is no means for emergency services to access the site or refuse removal.
“If no intervention is taken, the ongoing cliff instability, linked to both coastal erosion at the cliff toe and ground movements within the coastal slopes, will lead to imminent loss of the sole access road to Flat Cliffs.
“This would in effect ‘writeoff ’ the coastal community with immediate effect, rather than in 20 years time when the onset of direct property loss is expected.
“In addition to the community at Flat Cliffs, there are some residential properties at The Fold in Primrose Valley (immediately to the south of Mile Haven) and some parts of the Primrose Valley Holiday Village (including some of the permanent buildings which house core facilities) that will become at risk from erosion and landsliding in the medium to longer term.”
The report accepts, and states that residents understand, that the measure is simply “buying more time” before the “inevitable property losses are incurred, enabling adaptation plans to be developed and implemented by each individual affected”.
The council will accept £572,000 of Coast Protection grant funding for the work. + WOULD YOU LIVE SOMEWHERE WITH A SHORT LIFE SPAN? Filey schoolchildren will get an authentic experience of Indian dance next week in conjunction with the Stephen Joseph Theatre.
West Yorkshire’s Annapurna Indian Dance will visit the theatre on February 16 and 17 to run workshops with students from Filey Infants and Ebor Academy Filey.
The dance group, which is based in Halifax, offers enjoyable and imaginative Indian dance days with a vision to achieve harmony and understanding between people of different cultures through Indian dance. The company aims to introduce the rich artistic and cultural heritage of India through performances of graceful and rhythmic Indian dances and storytelling.
The company was set up several years ago by Indian-born former primary school teacher Shantha Roa, who says: “I want to provide a joyful and meaningful multi-sensory experience for every child that takes part.” Diana Logan, of the Stephen Joseph Theatre, said she was delighted with the partnership.