The eastern side of Lyme Regis. The existing sea wall is to be encased inside a new one.
A £20 MILLION scheme to protect the eastern side of Lyme Regis from landslides and the sea has been approved by West Dorset District Council.
Work is needed to save nearly 150 homes from destruction, as well as the Charmouth Road car park, the parish church and major underground pipes and cables.
A landslide on the eastern side of Lyme Regis. Properties at Church Cliffs can be seen in the top right-hand corner. Photograph copyright Nigel Mykura, reused under Creative Commons License.
West Dorset District Council Leader Robert Gould said: “The main elements of the current proposals include a new sea wall, slope stabilisation and landscaping, habitat restoration and management which are all crucial for the future of the town.
“The district council is committed to providing long-term security for Lyme Regis and the people who live and work there.”
An application will now be submitted to the Environment Agency for Government approval and funding.
The building of a new 390-metre long sea wall is unlikely to start before Spring 2012, because of the need to allow time for final Government approval, detailed design, tendering and preparatory contracts including environmental mitigation.
When work does start, it will take up to two years.
After that, attention will turn to the final phase of the long-term coastal protection strategy for Lyme Regis, which will focus on The Cobb.
To read more about what’s planned, click here
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While they’ve got the builders in could they not add a bit and create the so-desperately-needed (ha!) council offices that were ear-marked for Dorchester? That would save us a penny or two surely?! How much of the cost of this work will be borne by the householders whose property will now be worth somewhat more, bearing in mind that when they bought them any search would’ve alerted them to the fact that they were not safe forever? Just a thought….
Good question! I think we all pay in the end through general taxation.
There will have been more than £100 million spent in Lyme Regis by the time they finish all of the coastal protection schemes, and I remember a guy from the Environment Agency once telling me that every pound spent on schemes like this generated another pound for the local economy. So that’s benefits to Lyme worth at least £200 million. Which – you could argue – is why parts of the town have been going upmarket, why house prices have risen gigantically in Lyme, why young people therefore find it hard to afford to live there, etc, etc. And yet I’d have to say that I don’t think the character of the place has changed all that much, even though it has now got whole shops selling things like fancy Sicilian plates. I don’t know. Perhaps I’m wrong?
Interesting thought – £100 million spent, bringing in £200 million. Do the Palmer brothers know?? Did the consultants’ report take this into consideration? A town on the up like Lyme surely needs a boutique hotel with history, charm and views?
I agree with you that Lyme still has a certain charm unique to the area, and is now alive in the winter as well as the summer thanks to forward-thinking businesses such as the Town Mill Bakery et al. Come on Palmers boys, put your money where your mouth is, or sell up.