Stakeholder discussion on the Colwyn Bay Coastal Strategy Report.
10th January open meeting
Prior to the meeting members were asked to look at wall charts lent by Conwy County Borough Council, with a view to the discussion later.
They were issued with a “Have your say on the Bay” leaflet before the discussion, to refresh their minds on the options.
The Secretary outlined that he had read the full 65 page report prepared on the issue. The nub of the issue is that Conwy County Council has decided that doing nothing is not an option. The sea defences are degrading and a way forward has to be decided.
The association is being asked as a stakeholder in the process to comment. This comment will be used with others in arriving at a decision and later to support the application for funding.
The promenade is split into various sectors and different options may well be better for different sectors.
The following were issues for discussion:
1. With particular reference to the Old Colwyn end of the promenade, which of the four options should we support and why?
2. What was the most important issue to be covered by the preferred option for Old Colwyn Promenade?
3. What issues are there which relate to the various options that affect their suitability for Old Colwyn Promenade?
The Chair opened the discussion to the floor and the following comments were made and discussed. They were also answered by the Secretary in line with his understanding of information contained in the executive summary and full Strategy report.
The option for Old Colwyn promenade should to look good and be effective.
In the event that it cannot look good for cost or other reasons, it must be the most effective option because the Old Colwyn Promenade takes the brunt of all the heavy seas and is most affected.
If rocks are used, this cuts down on the access to the beach or access from one part of the beach to another.
Beach recharge is the option which would be probably the best looking option and if the sand can be kept in place would be effective in dissipating the power of the waves. The beach looks unattractive at present with low levels of sand.
If the beach looked good it would attract more persons to use it and the Promenade.
Why has the idea of offshore barriers such as the one at Rhos–on- Sea not been fully considered to take the force out of the waves before they strike the shore?
We are seeing more and more damage being caused to the Promenade and supporting structures. Something has to be done. Today at full tide, the promenade was being drowned by the waves.
Old Colwyn should be done first to act as a backstop to all the other improvements along to Rhos and beyond.
Some of the groynes have spread a little with the power of the sea but they have held well and prevented sand migration away from the beach.
Sea levels are rising and that must be taken into account with the changes.
When rocks are used, they become receptacles for flotsam and other rubbish.
When steps are created such as at various areas along the promenade, they quickly become colonised by algae and sea weed which are slippy. The concrete step revetment carries danger with it for that reason.
The issue of the use of the prom by fishermen was acknowledged by the meeting but not supported as a reason to take a particular course of action as to type of sea defences. Sportsmen will adapt.
Finally, the Chair asked people to vote on the four options available with relation to the Old Colwyn end of the Promenade from Eirias Park to Beach Road
ROCK TOE – All showed as against this as an option. Totally unsuitable.
BEACH RECHARGE - 50% in favour stating that this is the most visually appealing option if the sand can be guaranteed to be kept in place. If not we would return to the same state as we are now as there is little change made to the concrete works of the promenade with this option, other than a wave return wall.
CONCRETE STEP REVETMENT – 50% in favour especially as this involves the raising of the promenade level above existing level and taking the width of the promenade further out to sea bearing in mind the narrow nature of the Road at the Old Colwyn end.
ROCK REVETMENT – The 50% who showed in favour of the concrete step revetment saw this as second best in the event that their first decision was not possible for cost or other reasons.
Members thought that the option of an offshore sea wall such as that at Rhos on Sea should be explored for the Old Colwyn end of the promenade to safeguard the new defences. Although it is seen as an option in the bulk of the main report it is not included in the four options and is seen as possibly spoiling the view. The reason for defences is to defend the land.
Members were thanked for their deliberations and invited to send their ideas in for the rest of the promenade before the end of January.
Update provided by Conwy County Council for February 2007 open meeting
~Coastal Defences debate. ~ Following the debate at last months meeting. A full report was sent to Mr Andrew Wilkinson, Environmental and Technical services. He replied as follows ~
Public consultation on the Stage 1 Strategy closed on 31st January. We have started to process the results but individual comments not yet analysed. There are also some corporate responses (Network Rail, Environment Agency, Crown Estates etc) still to come in. Full results of the consultation will be published in the Consultation Report as part of the Stage 2 Strategy, which your group will be invited to review and comment on.
Initial numbers for the Old Colwyn Section. 248 total forms were received.
Rock Toe 8%
Rock Revetment 29%
Beach Recharge 28%
Concrete Steps 20%
None of the above 4%
No response completed for this section 11%
Broadly in line with the response from Old Colwyn East in that opinion is divided between the beach recharge option and a revetment option that will allow us to widen and improve the promenade.
Regarding offshore breakwaters - option initially eliminated it provides the same function as shore-connected breakwaters (retaining imported sand) at far greater cost. However there is a lot of public interest in this option through the consultation, including Old Colwyn East. Therefore it was decided to include offshore breakwaters in the detailed scientific study of the beach recharge option that we have recently commissioned. The study will identify exact sizes and locations of the rock structures required and enable us to calculate accurate costs - may confirm or otherwise our original assessment.
