Major £31m building work ruining our sea views in Little Bispham is also cracking the walls of our homes

Residents living directly opposite a works compound which serves the ongoing £31 million Anchorsholme Coastal Protection Scheme have issued a formal complaint about the effects of the activities there.

Some of the apartment dwellers in Wilvere Court and Shore Point, on Queens Promenade, say that among the issues they are experiencing are cracks in the walls of their homes, which they say have appeared since the works began.

They believe this to be a consequence of huge boulders being dropped into unclad dumper trucks in the nearby compound, located across the road, close to the Little Bispham tram stop, after work got under way in May this year.

A letter of complaint has been sent to Blackpool Council citing “severe noise disturbance and subsequent loss of residential amenity caused by ongoing engineering works” at the compound.

Blackpool Council has commissioned the various coastal protection schemes, stretching from Squires Gate in the south to Anchorsholme in the north, as it has a statutory duty to protect thousands of properties, businesses, and critical infrastructure from erosion and flooding. It has contracted Balfour Beatty to carry out the work, which is fully funded by the Environment Agency.

Residents’ view

The resident who has issued the complaint, on behalf of a group of occupants of the flats, told the Blackpool Gazette: “We know that the coastal protection scheme is vital and needs to be carried out.

“The issue is that people living here are having to bear the load of the works. It is not everyone who is having to put up with the noise, the disruption, the loss of amenity and structural damage to our homes. We are just trying to get things addressed.”

Part of the letter refers to “the structural defects that have appeared in many apartments in Wilvere Court since the work in the compound commenced.”

The residents are challenging the view of an independent surveyor brought in by the council, who concluded that the cracks could have been caused by any number of issues but “weren’t caused by the movement of the boulders being off-loaded and loaded literally within 50-100 yards of our homes”.

They say the primary issue is not continuous background white noise but “the highly disruptive, unpredictable, and aggressive impulse noise spikes generated by heavy machinery dropping up to 17 tonnes of rock armour (boulders) into unclad metal hoppers (dumper trucks).”

As part of the complaint, the residents are calling for Blackpool Council and Balfour Beatty to publish the maximum peak noise levels recorded at the boundary monitors for the full period of the site’s operation and set-up.

They are also calling for the site team to investigate and deploy specific operational measures to mitigate impulse noise or cease the operation causing the disturbance. They also want council’s Planning Enforcement team to investigate whether the current noise management plan is fit for purpose.

Norbreck ward councillor Julie Sloman has campaigned on behalf of the residents and said: “I’m one hundred percent in support of the residents. I don’t think the impact of the work has been fully assessed.

“I think at the very least that could be done is for the council to get Balfour Beatty to offer external cleaning of all that dust that is affecting the homes, even if it’s just every fortnight.”

What council says

A Blackpool Council spokesperson said: “We are continuing to engage with residents living close to the Anchorsholme works compound, holding regular meetings with those living nearby, sharing resident updates, and offering information and support via an appointed Public Liaison Officer.

“The safety of nearby properties remains a priority, which is why our contractors have put sound monitoring in place, which takes place during normal working hours.We hope this provides reassurance for residents living close to the works.

“Understanding people’s concerns though, we wanted to give residents further peace of mind. We therefore arranged an independent structural assessment for residents who expressed concerns. This review concluded that the works are not adversely affecting nearby properties.

“The Anchorsholme Coast Protection Scheme is vital for protecting homes, critical infrastructure and people from flooding and coastal erosion. Work is ongoing to add rock armour to the sloped revetment to provide additional stability, and work to install rock groynes to strengthen and stabilise the beach is due to begin in 2027.”