Our lovely sea view homes on Blackpool coast are now looking onto a building site
“This has destroyed our home environment and has taken away the reason why we all moved here in the first place, “
Residents who who bought homes on Little Bispham seafront and enjoyed their peaceful spot overlooking the Irish Sea are now facing out onto a building site.
The work usually starts at 7am and once in full flow is accompanied by the thud of boulders being dropped onto the ground, shaking the flats just a few yards across the road.
The work continues until around teatime and occasionally even lasts until 7pm. And now the residents of the Wilvere court apartments are looking at the prospect that the works compound opposite their homes may be in use for years ahead.
“This has destroyed our home environment and has taken away the reason why we all moved here in the first place, “ says resident Dianne McKnight, gazing out across he promenade road.
“It in’t just the loss of the view, which is bad enough. It’s the constant noise and the thudding of the boulders. It is even worse than we feared because we didn’t realise just how much physical work would be going on here. It’s horrendous.
“For the people in the upper flats it’s worse. When those boulders hit the ground it really shakes their homes. The residents here are nearly all elderly and it was their dream to retire here. Many have mobility issues and rely on the their balconies. Now it’s all been shattered.”
She added: “There was nothing on the planning search about this, before we came here. If we’d have known about it, we would never have moved here.”
The work in question is for a multi-million pound coastal protection scheme for Anchorsholme, which is already under way and entails the siting of protective rock groynes across the beach.
Why the compound is there
Operators Balfour Beatty needed a works compound for what is a vital project to protect thousands of homes from flooding, and prevent the sand being permanently eroded.
Last year a planning application to site the compound on this grassy seafront spot close to Little Bispham tram stop was approved by Blackpool Council planners.
The residents at Wilvere Court – some 36 apartment occupied by more than 50, mostly elders residents, accept that the project itself is essential.
Their argument was that the siting of the compound was too close to their homes and would ruin a local beauty spot used by residents from across th coast. They sought to convince planners that alternative sites should be looked at.
Mrs McKnight, 78, and husband Frank, 77, were part of a campaign to save the beauty spot and fight for another location for the compound; either retaining the one used at Jubilee gardens in Cleveleys or a spot a little further to the north near Anchorsholme, further away from local housing.
At the planning meeting, Mrs McKnight, who has lived at Wilvere Court for just 18 months, read out her opposition statement in a powerful testimony.
But the campaigners were unable to convince councillors on the planning committee, who sympathised with the residents but felt the coastal protection was too vital and the alternative sites unworkable.
To make matters worse for the Wilvere Court residents, they are now faced with the prospect that the coastal protection scheme is likely to continue all the way up to Gynn Square, meaning the compound is likely to be in use for years ahead.
Norbreck councillor Julie Sloman fought for the residents at the planning meeting last year and unsuccessfully requested that they be relieved of their full council tax burden, if not have it waived for the duration of the compound being in situ.
Cllr Sloman said this week: “I feel really sorry for the Wilvere Court residents. The situation they feared has come about and is even worse that they expected.”
A design and access statement submitted with the planning application said: “The scheme will retain the beach as an important local amenity for existing and future generations.
“The loss of the beach without the installation of the groynes, would not only be harmful to the character and appearance of the area but would also result in the loss of a large area of beach habitat.”
Blackpool Council, awarded funding from the Environment Agency for the scheme and for another coastal protection project earmarked for its main beaches near the Tower, says the schemes are vital if the cherished beaches – and homes around Anchorsholme and Cleveleys – are to be protected.