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£60m for new prom
A HUGE £60m transformation of Rossall's sea defences in Fleetwood has been announced.
Plans have been revealed to replace the concrete sea wall – which was built more than 30 years ago – with a structure to rival the award-winning People's Promenade at Cleveleys.
Cash for the multi-million pound proposals has already been earmarked in the Environment Agency's budget for a three-year programme, due to start in 2011.
The new promenade will stretch from Rossall School to Fleetwood golf course and will provide protection for 6,300 homes from flooding.
Coun Keith Riley, who was hit by the big floods of 1977, is determined that the area should get something more eye-catching.
He said: "I think the wall has done a tremendous job, but it's in constant need of repair.
"Hopefully we will get something like they have done at Cleveleys which will enhance the area completely instead of this horrible brick fortress opposite."
Coun Riley's home was one of those flooded when the area was swamped 31 years ago and 11m was spent on the new seawall.
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He said: "I have asked Wyre Council to appraise me constantly with the design right from the word go.
"The design hasn't been done yet and the engineers at Wyre are going to keep me in the picture.
"We have moved on. Techniques for sea defences have moved on in the last 20 years where you can build out into the beach and put stacking in which is a better form of defence than having a brick wall.
"Wyre have done a tremendous job with Cleveleys and now we are moving up to Rossall we hope we can get some of the same."
The seawall is in need of regular maintenance to keep it up to scratch and Wyre's Coastal Defence Strategy says the Rossall stretch would fail within five years without that work.
It is the most exposed of Wyre's defences and is preventing the erosion of the coastline. The strategy adds: "It is predicted that failures to these defences will increase in frequency and that the risk of a major breach will quickly grow to unacceptable levels in abeyance of intervention."
Before building work can start, Wyre Council will have to carry out a feasibility study into the project.
This will cost more than 317,000 and council bosses are applying for the funding from the Environment Agency.
The 20m People's Promenade in Cleveleys opened last year.
It was awarded the Environmental Award at the British Construction Industry (BCI) Awards after judges praised the work done to transform the dilapidated 1920s seafront into an attractive, vibrant frontage which is safe, robust and has stimulated demonstrable regeneration".
It was also hailed for involving the public.
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Wednesday 30 May 2012
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