Lowestoft flood walls project delayed by legal agreements

Lowestoft was struck by a tidal surge in December 2013

The next stage of a £67m project to reduce the risk of flooding in a town hit by tidal surges in 2013 has been delayed, a report said.

Construction work on the flood walls in Lowestoft, Suffolk, started in May and was due to be completed by May 2022.

However, phase two of the project was delayed by legal agreements, a report from Coastal Partnership East to East Suffolk Council said.

It said the work would start in January.

The report said work on the tidal flood walls around the Royal Norfolk and Suffolk Yacht Club and South Pier was delayed due to legal agreements not yet being in place.

It said once the work started in January, it would be split over two winter seasons, stopping between March and October due to tourism in the summer.

The report said the phase one works were "continuing at a pace along Hamilton Road and Waveney Road".

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The Lowestoft Flood Risk Management Project is seen as a vital scheme for the town, established after the tidal surges of 2013, as reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The entire project, of which the walls are only a part, will protect more than 1,500 homes and 800 businesses from future flooding.

The first phase of construction work on the flood walls in Lowestoft, Suffolk, started in May

East Suffolk Council said the project was "complex" and the "programme for a project of this size and nature will experience changes and, in some cases, delays".

However, it said, the temporary flood barriers put in place in 2016 "reduce the risk of flooding to the most vulnerable areas of Lowestoft and will continue to do so until the permanent flood defence is fully operational".