ALL OF OCTOBER’S PUBLIC EXHIBITION DROP-IN EVENTS HAVE BEEN CANCELLED.
A shortlist of options for 2 vital coastal defence schemes in The Bay has been revealed – but it will take more than 5 years to complete the work and at a cost of £20million.
The Environment Agency (EA) is seeking feedback from residents in Yaverland, Sandown and Shanklin on 5 proposals to help shape the future of the seafronts in The Bay.
If nothing is done then Shanklin’s sea defences could fail within the next 5 years. At Yaverland, the life expectancy is longer at 20 years, but it could be much shorter. The EA says that it is having to increasingly react to storm events which are becoming more severe and more regular, due to climate change. Sea levels are reportedly set to rise 1m by 2123.
With this in mind, 2 separate schemes – which will run alongside one another to reap financial and logistical benefits – have been drawn up to protect up to 600 homes and businesses in the local area following a ‘hold the line’ policy. At Sandown, the area of focus is between Yaverland Car Park and Culver Parade and at Shanklin, it is between Hope Road car park and Shanklin Chine.
On Monday, an online consultation will be launched to gather feedback from locals. It is to run for 6 weeks until Friday 1st December. There will also be 6 public exhibitions throughout October and November for those people who prefer to give their feedback face-to-face.
However, the consultation is simply ‘best practice’ and is not a statutory requirement. The EA says that it will ultimately go with the economically preferred option, being mindful of costs and project objectives. If there is a compelling local reason to go to an alternative option then that will be explored, but additional funding would be required.
Once a preferred option is selected it will be shared with the community before an Outline Business Case is put forward – a submission for investment approval. Each scheme is currently estimated to cost between £10-11million with work set to be carried out between 2026 and 2028, meaning the whole scheme will be in excess of 5 years.
Emily Webster, Project Lead for Shanklin and Yaverland Coastal Defence Schemes, Environment Agency, has said:
“There is an increasing risk of flooding and coastal erosion for the communities in Yaverland, Sandown and Shanklin. The sea wall and groynes are deteriorating, sea level is predicted to rise and storm events will become more extreme, due to climate change.
“We want to encourage as many people as possible to give their feedback on our proposed options to restore the coastline. This can either be done via the online consultation or at one of our public exhibitions. The responses we get will be very important because they will help us choose the best design for restoring the current flood defences”.
The 5 options are:
- Option 1 – do nothing
- Option 2 – do the minimum, but they will fail
- Option 3 – Keep the existing defence height but refurbish the walls
- Option 4 – Raise the height of the defence in stages
- Option 5 – Raise the height of the defences now
Under options 3, 4 and 5, works to the foundation and toe of the sea wall will need to be undertaken. In Options 4 and 5, capping units would be used to raise the crest level of the sea wall which would be 1.25m above the existing pavement level.
It is currently undecided which type of defence will be used; concrete spraying, encasement or a stepped revetment.
Everyone is welcome to pop into the upcoming public exhibitions. There will be a free cup of tea or coffee, and light snacks. Children can also take part in a free LEGO® building competition with fantastic prizes up for grabs.
| DATE | TIME | LOCATION |
| Wednesday 25th October | 14:00-19:00 | Café at Wildheart Animal Sanctuary, Yaverland Road, Sandown, PO36 8QB |
| Thursday 26th October | 14:00-19:00 | Café at Wildheart Animal Sanctuary, Yaverland Road, Sandown, PO36 8QB |
| Friday 27th October | 10:00-15:00 | Broadway Centre, The Broadway, Sandown, PO36 9GG |
| Wednesday 8 November | 14:00-19:00 | The Clifton, 1 Queens Road, Shanklin, |
| Thursday 9 November | 10:00-15:00 | The Clifton, 1 Queens Road, Shanklin, |
| Friday 10th November | 10:00-15:00 | The Clifton, 1 Queens Road, Shanklin, |
The online consultation is very easy to do and only takes 5 minutes to complete. There will be hard copies of the consultation available in local libraries and at the Isle of Wight Council office reception.
The online consultation for Shanklin will be available from Monday here https://consult.environment-agency.gov.uk/solent-and-south-downs/shanklin-coastal-defence-scheme-informati/ and for Yaverland here https://consult.environment-agency.gov.uk/solent-and-south-downs/yaverland-coastal-defence-sche/.
UPDATE ON 26TH OCTOBER – The Environment Agency has announced that all of October’s drop-in sessions – due to held at the Wildheart Animal Sanctuary and Broadway Centre – have been cancelled due to flooding impacts across the Isle of Wight.
A spokesperson from the Environment Agency has said:
“Our staff are currently prioritising our incident response work. The health, safety and wellbeing of our staff and members of the public is a priority. We expect to go ahead with the rest of our schedule of events as planned in November.
“The consultation is still live. You can view our exhibition material online in the meantime. Head over to our consultation page here.”
Job justification in full swing.
More climate ballsh*t
Leave nature alone, it’s been ok for years.
Sea levels to rise by 1 metre by 2123! What a load of twaddle.
I suspect that no-one has told the Planning Department about that collapsed timescale!
I think you should educate yourself about what a few CM in raised sea levels means for coastal defences before you embarrass yourself further.
The breakwaters/groins between Shanklin and Sandown have been allowed to deteriorate to the point they no longer have any timber to prevent the movement of sand/shingle along the bay, the result is the beach level has dropped considerably over the last few years allowing the sea now to smash into the seawalls directly. This in turn is causing more damage to the sea walls/revetment and so on and so on. It does not take a genius to work out that if you do not maintain these systems, they can’t do their job, climate change or no climate change.
Blame global warming she on agenda shame sea levels haven’t risen anywhere in the world just one from the past New York under water by 2015 reality no change Maldives we will tax you so we can buy land after we go under water. Result lots of new developments being built in the Maldives
Council will probably do nothing,is the cliff lift painted yet as it was in shanklins council tax increases
Leave it alone and look back in 10 years and realise what a load of twaddle climate change / emergency it all is as I would bet the seafront will still be there…
This is planning for the next 100 years, not 10. Why do people like you enjoy wallowing in ignorance? The ability to use science and forward thinking enabled Britain to be Great. With attitudes like yours humankind would still be in the stone age.
I say fix the steps alongside Shanklin lift first so people can get access down to the beach quicker. Much more useful than making more of a concrete jungle.
So they give 5 options and will probably plump for the middle. But in reality Options 1 and 2 shouldn’t even be on there. Crafty.
So it will take 5yrs to complete the work …. NOT 5yrs to save Shanklin, expensive jobs for the boys is what this is, if the sea level rises that much and it only threatens to overtop the wall during a servere (F9 or more) storm then whats to stop the water running up the 2 slipways at either end or do they propose closing these as well?