Freshwater Independent Lifeboat has submitted a planning application to extend its slipway to help speed up launch times.
The independent lifeboat station has asked the Isle of Wight Council for permission to extend its slipway at Freshwater Bay.
Due to a shingle build-up on the end of the existing slipway, launching and recovery of the lifeboats can either be seriously delayed or prevented.
The crew, which patrols from Hurst Point all the way down to St Catherine’s Point, is the first port of call for those who need it and get into trouble in and on the water at some of the most popular Island beaches.
The existing facility is a solid concrete slipway running from the promenade onto the beach and the extension would add 9.8 metres.
In the design and access statement, planning agents say the structure has been conceived to eliminate any effects on the current movement of the beach shingle — which moves around the Bay depending on the weather.
The Environmental Agency has made no objection to the plans.
Comments on the application can be made until 19th June.
They should not need permission for that surely!!
Anything coastal upto 2 miles offshore is Crown property