Locals are bracing for more significant disruption as the next stage of works on the seawall between Ventnor and Bonchurch is due to start soon but affected businesses will receive compensation.
At a public meeting in Ventnor last Tuesday (22nd August), representatives from the Environment Agency provided further details on the Ventnor Coastal Protection and Slope Stabilisation Scheme and a timeline for the next stage of works.
Ground investigation works will commence between Wheeler’s Bay and Bonchurch on 4th September and are due to last for 18 weeks, with a compound installed in Shore Road car park from this date. It will take up the western half of the car park, reducing capacity by 50% but the village green will remain accessible.
Preliminary work will then begin before the esplanade will close in its entirety from 1st October as ‘significant intrusive works’ get underway and local residents were left in no doubt about the impact of the works.
A representative from the Environment Agency said:
“We’re not going in with teaspoons.”
However, reassurance was offered that if any damage was caused to properties by the works, then the costs of repairs would be covered.
Similarly, affected businesses such as The Seapot and commercial fishermen operating out of Wheeler’s Bay, will be entitled to compensation.
The duration of the project has been affected by the inability to work from both ends due to the presence of the existing site where the seawall collapsed last year and the work is further complicated by the presence of a Southern Water sewage pipe which runs from Bonchurch to central Ventnor.
A representative from the Environment Agency said:
“Service records that we got from Southern Water don’t correlate to what we’re finding on the promenade.’
The investigative works will determine the approach taken as the scheme progresses to the next stages as part of a long-term strategy to protect more than 3,000 properties at risk should the landslide complex on which the town sits be reactivated.
This will also see a trial dewatering scheme in the Western Cliffs area by La Falaise car park where, again, a compound and a temporary construction site will be installed at the western end of La Falaise Car Park for approximately 16 weeks while an abstraction borehole is drilled to gather data.
Once the investigations have been completed, the Environment Agency will model the various possibilities before presenting a shortlist of options for consultation from next Summer.
