Approval given so council can apply for funding for urgent sea defence repairs in Selsey

Funds are being sought so that vital works to Selseys West Beach frontage can take place.

 At their meeting on Tuesday 2 December, Chichester District Councils Cabinet gave the go ahead for an application to be submitted to the Environment Agency for central government funding known as Grant in Aid for works to take place on a 250-metre section of the towns existing coastal defences which are showing signs of deterioration.

 Last May, the council secured funding to carry out an appraisal and outline design stage of the main Selsey Coastal Scheme which is part of a three-and-a-half year programme of work.

 Once the design stage has been completed, the project will need to go through two more approval stages to gain further funding. Currently, it is anticipated that work on the main project will not start until 2030 at the earliest, which is why extra funding is being sought for the urgent repairs required at West Beach.

 If this section of the beach frontage is not repaired before the main works start in a few years time, then there is a danger that this area will deteriorate even further and would push up the cost of the main scheme, says Councillor Jonathan Brown, Cabinet Member for Environmental Strategy at Chichester District Council. The wider project relies on using the existing structures as its foundation, and so its crucial that these works are completed to reduce the risk of the defences deteriorating further or failing ahead of the main scheme taking place. Now that the application has been approved, we hope to submit this soon and we anticipate hearing back after around four months.

 In addition, Cabinet also approved £60,000 of additional funding from the councils General Reserves to repair the sea wall at Sea Grove in Selsey. A routine inspection of the seawall found that timber on the front had detached which had exposed a large void in the base of the seawall. If not repaired, then the void is likely to increase in size and compromise the rest of this part of the structure.

 These works will be carried out by council contractors, supervised by Coastal Partners and will include a temporary support at the base of the seawall so that the void can then be filled with concrete.