The changing face of Brodick
‘At one side of the bay the village has a brand new beach and on the other side the frame of the new ferry terminal building’
In the space of little more than a week the face of Brodick has changed completely.
At one side of the bay the village has a brand new beach and on the other side the frame of the new ferry terminal building is all but complete.
After weeks of waiting final permission came late last week for the sand, piled up behind the beach, to be spread over the foreshore.
The Marine Scotland licence does not only cover permission for replenishment of the beach, but also the construction of two rock
groynes to retain the sand against future tidal erosion.
The fishtail groynes were first proposed in a longawaited consultants’ report by AECOM Ltd published late last year. But as reported by The Banner at the time the rock armour coastal structures could cost at least £1 million.
But that has failed to discourage Brodick Improvements Committee which is planning a huge fundraising effort to raise the cash. It is not the first time the committee has tried to raise a huge sum of money after coming up with £650,000 to help build the main Brodick Promenade which opened in 2010.
Brodick Improvements this week welcomed the receipt of the Marine Scotland licence, which had been processed by North Ayrshire Council on their behalf .
A committee spokesman said: ‘This has been a long process and finally on Friday we received the licence which gives us three years in which to complete the project.
The generous donation of sand from George Leslie Ltd which was recovered from the works at the new ferry terminal has allowed us to place approx. 5,500 tonnes that had been temporarily stored on the low green awaiting the marine licence.’
And another 1.500 tonnes is still to come.
The consultants’ report says that to full repair the beach would take more than 15,000 tonnes of rock and 27,000 tonnes of stone.
Work started on Sunday to move the material over the exposed geotextile bags and onto the beach. Local committee members, led by the chairman Harry Davidson, gathered at the beach to start moving the sand. Murray Boal has had a major role in this project and he was encouraged by other members including Bill Calderwood, Ian Small and Alison McNicol.
‘All the committee have been working together to make sure that the beach
is once again a welcoming area of our village. Our work will continue to start to raise funds to allow construction of the groynes to proceed as soon as possible to minimise the possible loss of material if nature intervenes again. Any fund raising suggestions would be welcomed,’ the statement added.
Concerns have been raised that the sand could be washed away again by an easterly storm, but the committee are keeping their fingers crossed.
There is also work being prepared in partnership with North Ayrshire Council to provide further protection to the footbridge and shore area at the start of Fisherman’s Walk which is estimated will be carried out in a few weeks when costs and contracts have been confirmed.
They have also welcomed the offer of assistance from the Coastal Way group and Arran Access trust to install a wooden walkway to enhance the start of the coastal way route at Fisherman’s Walk which will also start in the next couple of weeks as soon as the material is delivered to the site.
‘All the work proposed has been possible with the combined co-operation of the Brodick Improvements Committee, North Ayrshire Council and other community groups and we thank everyone for their support,’ the statement added.