No change to Sidmouth beach plan despite latest cliff falls

No immediate work will be carried out on Sidmouth's crumbling cliffs, despite a spate of collapses in recent weeks.

In the last three weeks, there have been at least four rock falls.

The public are being advised to keep away from the cliffs and not access East Beach, which is already closed for safety reasons.

But there is no change to the long-term Sidmouth and East Beach Management Plan scheme, which aims to reduce the rate of erosion.

Earlier this year East Devon District Council's cabinet voted to put the chosen scheme on hold and explore other possible options, now that the project is eligible for more Government funding.

A spokesman for the council said: "The locations of the recent cliff falls at East Beach/Pennington Point are outside land owned and managed by East Devon District Council.

"The risk of cliff falls is well signed in this area, so members of the public should adhere to warnings to stay well clear of the cliffs and not access East Beach as it is closed for safety reasons.

"Work on the Sidmouth and East Beach Management Plan (BMP) scheme continues. It aims to reduce the risk of flooding to Sidmouth by maintaining the standard of defences along Sidmouth beach and to reduce the rate of erosion to the cliffs east of the town, and therefore the rate of exposure of the east side of Sidmouth to coastal conditions.

"The EDDC Cabinet recently voted to pause the current working option to review other possible options now that the scheme is eligible for more Government funding. A sub-group is currently reviewing the scope for this and will report back at the next BMP advisory group in July. A temporary rock revetment on East Beach and planning permission for this will be explored if the new scheme means a delay to work starting."

What options are now being considered?

The previously agreed plans were to invest around £9million in a coastal defence scheme involving beach replenishment, periodic beach recycling, a new rock groyne on East Beach and modifications to the River Sid training wall.

This scheme would also include raising the height of the splash wall along the seafront slightly, and then topping it up with temporary storm barriers or strong glass panels when needed.

But now that extra funding is available, alternatives that had been ruled out due to the cost could be back on the table.

In 2017, Sidmouth town councillors had backed a scheme with four additional semi-obscured offshore 'reefs' that decrease in size towards the East Beach – but as it cost up to £20m – the most expensive of all the options – it wasn't taken forward.

Other options rejected had included modifying the rock groynes at Bedford Steps, York Steps and East Pier Rock into T shapes, placing a slope of large boulders next to the seawall, and replacing the current rock groynes on the beach with more breakwaters similar to those already in place on the main beach and East Beach.

It will take up to six months for engineers and specialist consultants to review and assess the various options, and they will produce a report on whether to go ahead with the original preferred option or use the additional funding to pay for a different scheme which may be more effective.