Survey to find extent of Jurassic cliffs erosion
CRUMBLING cliffs on a stretch of Devon’s Jurassic coast are to be surveyed to see how much erosion has taken place over the past year.
The study will concentrate on Pennington Point in Sidmouth, part of an area where falling rocks and earth have caused dozens of warnings in the past few months.
Cllr Stuart Hughes, Devon County Councillor for Sidmouth, will use some of his locality budget to carry out the survey around the town’s East Beach area to establish how much erosion has taken place since the previous survey carried out last March.
Multi-million pound plans to protect Sidmouth from the encroaching sea have been developed while, over the last 12 months, numerous cliff falls have continued to occur.
The recent survey suggested that the cliff is receding by approximately 2m a year, but Cllr Hughes feels that with a rock revetment scheme in place, this could reduce to 200mm.
He said: “Having spoken to Devon county bridge engineers, I’ve agreed to fund another limited cliff survey in the area around Pennington Point from my locality budget, which will establish how much erosion has taken place since the previous survey which I also funded and was carried out over a longer distance.”
The area around Pennington Point is set to be protected by a beach management scheme, although ‘bigger and better’ Sidmouth sea defences are back on the table – with offshore rock islands once again being considered to protect the town.
Additional offshore breakwaters had been previously discussed as an option for protecting Sidmouth from major storms and its East Beach cliffs from further erosion, but while the breakwaters may have presented a more robust solution technically, they would come at almost double the cost £9m funding available and so had been ruled out.
But changes to the eligibility for funding from various bodies have been made, and as such, additional funding eligibility by the Environment Agency and other bodies, could be available for the longawaited scheme. East Devon District Council’s cabinet will meet soon to discuss their preferred way forward, and if the green light is given for the current preferred option, construction could start within two years, and there would also be a potential for this new extra funding to be used for future maintenance, ensuring the beach can be recycled/ recharged.
However, if a different or more expensive option is chosen, then construction could take around four years to start, but a recommendation will also be made to East Devon’s cabinet that a temporary structure should be investigated to be placed at the base of the cliff.
This structure is to help protect the River Sid wall and low lying properties in the town and the properties above Sidmouth’s eroding cliffs.
Cllr Hughes said if East Devon agree to explore a more expensive but potentially better option for sea defences, then following results of the cliff survey – and if the erosion is as it appears – then the emergency powers could be used for the placement of rock revetment around Pennington Point.