Plans in the pipeline for ramp across Bognor's beach

Long-awaited hopes for a ramp across Bognor Regis beach could finally be answered.

Renewed plans to enable access for all to the foreshore have been compiled.

These are receiving expert analysis by engineers before a design is selected and submitted for various approvals.

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Paul Beckerson, Bognor Regis Town Council's projects officer, said: "We have sent these designs to Arun District Council's engineers to make sure they are happy with them.

"If they are, they will go to the Bognor town marketing group for them to approve a final design.

"There will also be the need for planning permission after all.

"If all that is given, the ramps will be installed before the end of the year, hopefully."

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But, if the latest proposals are unacceptable, a warning has been given the funding for the scheme is set to be withdrawn.

The demands for a ramp over the shingle have existed for many years to allow disabled people in wheelchairs and families with young children in pushchairs to easily get down to the water's edge.

Up to 27,000 has been set aside for the past two years to enable the project to be completed.

The initial idea to build a concrete ramp was rejected because it would need constant sweeping to remove the shingle which the waves would dump on it.

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But the current proposals are to install a ramp raised slightly above the shingle by a series of piles driven into the sand underneath.

Two suggested locations have been put forward. One involves a longer ramp just to the west of the pier. The other is for a shorter length opposite the Rock Gardens skatepark.

Both ramps would involve a series of zig-zag sections, like a mountain road, to accommodate the limitations of five metres for the maximum length of a drop.

Any funding left over would be used for further decking areas on the beach to the east of the pier.

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