St Annes sea wall project on the table

During the last six months, Fylde Council has been working on options for replacing the existing sea wall around The Island, St Annes.

The sea wall protects over 400 properties and businesses from coastal erosion and flooding. It is nearly 90 years old, and is approaching the end of its design life, with frequent repairs required, and an estimated residual life expectancy of ten years.

Its low comparative height to the beach means that overtopping and flooding frequently occur, which is set to increase in line with current climate change predictions.

For the new sea defence to protect St Annes over its predicted design life of 100 years, studies have confirmed that the new sea wall promenade level needs to be approximately 2m higher than the existing promenade, together with a 1m high set back wall.

This is a significant height increase and will alter the character of the existing frontage. The challenge is to integrate this elevated sea defence into the Island site.

Plans are being developed to produce an overall vision and masterplan for the Island Site (and St Annes Town Centre), but it is likely to be a number of years before this vision is realised.

Ideally, the sea wall replacement and potential future Island development could be undertaken at the same time, minimizing disruption, and producing a seamless transition from the Island buildings and car parks to the sea wall frontage.

The deadline for submitting the comments on these plans is Wednesday, 9th June 2021, when the council will consider all the feedback and take this into consideration in agreeing the final preferred option.