Project to tackle island coastal erosion

The sea is eroding the coast on Walney Island

People living on an island off the Cumbrian coast say they hope a £200m project will help protect their homes from coastal erosion.

Ten years ago the sea was far enough back from West Shore Park, on Walney Island, that a road between the community and the beach gave access to the north of the island. It was badly damaged by a storm in 2013 and has deteriorated further ever since.

The Our Future Coast project has received the funding from the government to look at natural defences such as salt marshes and sand dunes across the north-west of England.

Sessions will be run by the project and Westmorland and Furness Council to hear the views of people in the area.

They have been told the existing boulders and rocks on the shore are expected to protect homes for at least another 20 years.

Pat Lumb has lived in a chalet at West Shore Park for 25 years.

She said: “I know it will get worse – but evidently we’ve been guaranteed these rocks, so I’m hoping they’ll keep to their word and they will be done.

“If another layer of rocks goes in February, when we get the really high tides, if it takes any more of those rocks away, it could come over.”

'Unprecedented challenges'

Joseph Earl from Our Future Coast said: “We really need to be look at alternative methods, moving away from building just bigger and bigger walls, because we know we’re facing unprecedented challenges such as flooding and sea level rises which is only going to get worse.”

Westmorland and Furness Council said a coastal process study will be carried out, using data being collected by a mobile radar station. It will allow the authority to understand what can or cannot be achieved to stabilise the coast.

Cabinet member for climate and biodiversity Giles Archibald said: “An important part of this work is working with our project to ensure that local residents and the public are involved in conversations to explore how we can adapt to a changing coast.

Representatives from the project team will be visiting individual residents and this will be followed up with a drop-in session on Tuesday at North Scale Community Centre between 16:30 and 18:30 GMT.