£3m European lifeline for homes and road facing coast erosion risk

DOZENS OF homes and a key coastal road in Yorkshire which are threatened by coastal erosion have been thrown a lifeline by a £3m grant from Europe.

Campaigners are celebrating after hearing that their “11th bid at the 12th hour” for money from European Regional Development Fund towards the £5.5m scheme had been approved.

It should save hundreds of chalets as well as Newsham Gardens, a cul de sac to the west of Holmpton Road, and spare emergency vehicles travelling south and residents a long detour inland.

Ward councillor Dave Tucker said: “I’m shaking with excitement. We’ve lobbied Ministers, MPs, we’ve done everything we can.

“This is the 11th bid put in for this money and it has come in at the 12th hour.

“This £3m will secure the long term economy and the safety of South Withernsea. The road will be maintained and people will have access to chemists, doctors, groceries.

“If we’d lost that, it would have been catastrophic.

“We have the planning permission, we have the money, let’s get the rocks on the beach and get that road saved.”

The hope now is that work installing rock armour will begin in the spring.

East Riding Council said while funding has been secured and planning permission is now in place, there were still hurdles to overcome before work can start.

Council officers will now have to obtain a Crown lease and work permit for the works and finalise the marine licence with the Marine Management Organisation.

They will also be working with local landowners to ensure relevant access permissions are agreed and local fishermen to ensure any disruption is minimised during rock delivery by sea.

The Holderness coastline has one of the fastest eroding coastlines in Europe with more than four metres a year of land lost to the sea annually at South Withernsea.

This scheme will extend the current defences with 400 metres of rock armour, to protect from the on-going coastal erosion in an undefended area.

The project will include a rework of the existing rock terminal structure, regrading of the existing cliff line and the creation of a new structure at the end of the defences.

Councillor Chris Matthews said: “Whilst this is good news that the council has secured the funding and planning permission for the scheme, there are still a number of obstacles that we have to overcome before work on this complex project can actually get underway.

“Should we overcome these final hurdles it is expected work could begin in spring 2020.”

It has been more than a century and a half since a village was last lost in Holderness.

Kilnsea was considered “the prettiest village in all Holderness, standing on a hill with a wide prospect over sea and land, a noble old church, pleasant gardens sloping down the hillside and a fine spring of bright water surrounded by willows”.

But faced with the encroaching sea and the erosion of the clay on which houses were built, in 1850 the residents abandoned the land for a new village inland. Some two dozen settlements have been lost to coastal erosion since Roman times.

This is the 11th bid put in and it has come in at the 12th hour. South Withernsea councillor Dave Tucker.