Coastal defences will 'protect homes and businesses' on Worthing seafront
A multi-million-pound project to improve Worthing’s coastal defences to protect homes and businesses from the sea has been completed.
Over the last eight months, contractors for the Environment Agency (EA) have been working in sections along the seafront from Seaview Road to the border with Lancing at Brooklands Park.
The project is designed to protect homes and businesses along the seafront and in the town centre for the next 10 years, according to Adur & Worthing Councils. A separate longer-term scheme will be developed with the EA to ‘prevent the erosion of our coast and flooding for the next 50 years’.
New pile extensions have been fitted to replace worn and snapped piles on the groynes. Planks have been attached to them to retain shingle, helping protect the town from flooding.
Officers from Worthing Borough Council (WBC) will monitor shingle levels along the coastline to analyse the effectiveness of the repaired groynes, using drone footage recorded recently as the starting point.
Extra shingle will be moved onto the beach if the levels do not gradually build up enough to act as a barrier to the power of the waves. More planks will need to be fitted to the groynes but this work will be paused until after the school summer holidays, to avoid disruption for those wanting to visit the beach, Adur & Worthing Councils said.
The authorities said the EA ‘paid the lion’s share’ of the almost £5million bill. WBC also provided £400,000 towards the cost of the scheme, including £200,000 of contributions from developers who have built new homes in Worthing.
Councillor Martin McCabe, Worthing’s cabinet member for environment, said: “This investment in Worthing’s coastal defences has been vital to protect the town centre from the sea.
“The groynes look fresh and new and they are visibly already beginning to help the beach to keep hold of the shingle being brought in at high tide.
“By continuing to maintain and improve the defences over the coming years, we can keep the sea at bay so those living, working and investing in our town centre can have confidence about the future.”