£2m tab for Pier Road riverside repairs

HOMES in Littlehampton could be at risk from flooding because part of the riverside wall is crumbling away, harbour board members have warned.

Town mayor Dr James Walsh called for a new riverside wall to be built along Pier Road within the next one to two years to avoid flooding "on a grander scale".

And former mayor Tony Squires warned: "People's lives could be at risk in Littlehampton because of that weak point."

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He was referring to the crumbling concrete revetment which shelves from the low wall in Pier Road down to the River Arun. Harbourmaster Colin Hitchcock told Thursday's board meeting that as the concrete was being undermined, it was putting the wall, part of Littlehampton's flood defence, at risk, too.

It's estimated that building a new wall and riverside walkway could cost at least 2m.

Engineers and council officials have said the riverbank should be safe for at least five years, but Mr Squires and Dr Walsh said a new harbour wall should be built as a matter of urgency.

"The condition of the revetment underpinning the river wall there is nothing less than shocking," said Dr Walsh. "It's paper thin. It would crumble if you walked on it. It's not a question of if or when '” it has got to be renewed before flooding takes place. We have had flooding twice in that part of Littlehampton before. If it leeches our through the river wall, it would be on a much grander scale."

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Mr Squires said it was no good harbour board members burying their heads in the sand when people's lives were at risk. "we should be taking action very quickly," he stressed.

Dr Walsh called for a report from Mr Hitchcock and Arun head of infrastructure, works and engineering

to be prepared for the September board meeting, and for the cost of the new river wall to be included in next year's budget.

Board chairman Christina Freeman agreed: "We must start acting now."

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The debate arose from a report on the revetment by Arun's economic and cultural development manager Clare Potter, and how it fitted in with plans to provide a new walkway along that part of Pier Road, and with proposals by West Sussex County Council to change the traffic flow.

It was now felt that all three issues should be tackled at the same time, but Mr Squires accused the county council of "five years of waffling" over the traffic scheme and he urged the board to make progress without any further delay.

Earlier in the meeting, Environment Agency official Anne Tanner highlighted the increased threat of flooding in the lower Arun Valley area, including Littlehampton and Arundel, because of rising sea levels and increased flow in the river.

Last October, the Gazette reported that flooding likely to happen once in every 100 years would affect 1,051 homes and 198 businesses, while a rarer one in 1,000 risk flood would threaten almost 3,000 homes and 674 commercial premises.

Anne Tanner: "What started to ring the alarm bells was that we began to see a very big rise in damages in the lower Arun Valley."

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