£17m sea wall plans on display

The work, under a £17m Environment Agency scheme, includes a stepped revetment, in the style of parts of Blackpool’s seafront, at Fairhaven and a sloping revetment and widened promenade for Church Scar, which stretches from Fairhaven Lake towards Lytham.

The project – illustrations of which were displayed at the RSPB Discovery Centre at Fairhaven Lake – is set to start in spring 2017, with completion by November 2018, having been brought forward after extra funding was freed up by the Government.

Fylde councillors had been hoping that £2.1m of improvement work to Fairhaven Lake could be carried out in tandem with the sea defences work but lost out on a £2.1m lottery grant to fund the improvement work.

Coun David Eaves, chairman of Fylde Council’s Operational Management Committee, said: “We were enormously disappointed not to have got the Heritage Lottery Fund money, but excited at the drawings we now have for the wider sea defence work.

“The proposed sea defences are very appealing visually and will add to the area’s tourist appeal as well as reducing the risk of flooding and coastal erosion.”

The sea defence work at Fairhaven and Church Scar, overlooking what is affectionately known at Granny’s Bay at the mouth of the River Ribble, is part of Fylde-coast wide improvements designed to protect some 14,000 homes.

Coun Eaves added: “This is work that will last for generations to come, so we want it to look good as well as prevent coastal flooding and erosion which is the project’s primary purpose.”

Announcing the scheme earlier this year, Environment Secretary Elizabeth Truss said: “This is another example of infrastructure funded by the UK Government as part of our long-term economic plan and will mean greater peace of mind for thousands of people who are at risk from flooding.”

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