North Yorkshire Council has accepted a £1.5m grant for urgent repairs to the Victorian-era North Bay sea wall in Scarborough.
A £1.5m grant from the Environment Agency will allow North Yorkshire Council to proceed with an urgent project to improve and repair Scarborough’s North Bay sea wall.
The authority has said that more than 500 residential, tourist, and commercial properties would be at risk within five years if the wall fell.
Councillors unanimously approved the major grant and plan to “restore and sustain the vital coastal defences” at a meeting of the authority’s executive committee on Tuesday, May 28.
The age of the original sea defence structure dates to 1890 and repairs and additions have been made to various sections in the 1920s, 1950s, 1970s, and 2010s.
The funding will see urgent repairs to 440 metres of the frontage of the North Bay in Scarborough, which, without investment, is “at risk of failing”.
The sea wall stretches 2km from Clarence Gardens to the North Bay Cliffs.
It consists of a variety of “concrete and masonry near-vertical seawalls of fluctuating heights” as well as an assortment of steps and slipways.
North Yorkshire Council said the length of the wall is “in a variable condition”.
Initial asset inspections undertaken in 2010 identified assets within North Bay as needing ‘urgent’ repair. Additional inspections in 2018 and 2020 reiterated the need for Phase 2 of the Urgent Wall Improvements project to be completed. A report last October stated:
"Failure of the coast defence assets would lead to the onset of coastal erosion. The initial losses would be the promenade immediately behind the seawalls, and the loss of Royal Albert Drive in the Clarence Gardens Management Unit, which is the main road connecting the north and south bays in Scarborough. The resumption of active toe erosion and removal of support to the steep coastal slopes behind the promenade and road would also result in reactivation of pre-existing landslides and instigation of new landslides. The cliff-top would consequently collapse and recede resulting in the significant loss of assets, services and property. Failure of the coastal defence assets in North Bay would also impact on the visitor economy of the area."
There are 240 residential properties, 137 commercial properties including several tourist amenities, and 136 beach chalets at risk of coastal erosion within five years should the walls fail.
A report said approval will help avoid associated tourism losses, protect the main road link between North and South Bays and important utility infrastructure, as well as avoiding mental health impacts for residents.
The authority said it would procure a specialist consultant to design and project manage the works by November 2024.
A contractor will then be chosen to undertake the works to be delivered by October 2026, in line with the grant deadlines.
The proposal is fully grant-funded by the Environment Agency and includes officer costs, consultant’s fees, design and construction costs, permissions and consenting fees, and a “significant risk contingency allowance” of £444,000.
It was noted that the total project cost of £1,510,855, is an “early estimate” prior to design and is subject to confirmation by the contractor which has not yet been appointed.
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