New sea walls to guard island homes

- Tue 29th Jun 2004

A MASSIVE £1m coastal defence scheme has finally been given the go-ahead to save more than 2,000 homes from disappearing under rising sea levels.




<%image(20040629-beach club.jpg|400|300|Sea Wall circa 1950)%>A MASSIVE £1m coastal defence scheme has finally been given the go-ahead to save more than 2,000 homes from disappearing under rising sea levels.




Concrete sea walls along the northern stretch of the Eastoke peninsula have been deemed 'totally inadequate' to protect the 1,538 houses, 990 caravans, and shops and cafes.




But many of those homes will have to sacrifice nearly 6ft of their gardens for the new defences when work begins in September.




Sea walls in good condition will be raised by 18 inches to stand at more than 12ft.




Meanwhile, crumbling walls will be replaced with a steel pile that will stand around 6ft away from the existing wall.




><%image(20040629-1950s seafront.jpg|400|300|Seafront 1950s)%>

By forum user, Bruce_Bennett