Felixstowe beach huts under threat after plans turned down

The beach huts in Felixstowe were moved after a storm in 2018

Several beach huts that were moved after a storm are under threat after a council only approved a new location for just over half of them.

Forty-four huts near the Spa Pavilion in Felixstowe were relocated from the sand to the promenade after erosion in 2018.

Four applications were made to move them, but East Suffolk Council only approved two for 24 beach huts.

Two other applications were refused due to the impact on the surrounding area.

Laura Hack, delivery manager at the authority, said their current location was "not viable".

The council must now consider whether any of the remaining 20 could be saved, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The planning committee approved creating six new plots on the South Beach, and creating 18 on the beach near the Clifflands steps and Felixstowe Ferry Golf Club.

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But proposals to create a row of 18 behind existing huts on the cliff near Golf Road car park were refused because it would have resulted in the loss of between seven and 16 trees.

An offer of planting three times as many shrubs as trees being lost was deemed not sufficient.

Councillor Stuart Bird said it was a "blank cheque" for removing trees, which was not justifiable for the beach huts.

An application for 16 to be relocated to Manor End between the sea wall and promenade was also turned down because the loss of coastal vegetated shingle was considered to be harmful for biodiversity.

Ahead of the meeting, council leader Steve Gallant said if approval was not granted for all the huts "licences may need to be revoked".

"Fundamentally, this comes down to the aggressive changes in beach conditions which are affecting great swathes of the Suffolk coast," he added.

"There is, sadly, only so much we can do when faced with the impacts and effects of coastal erosion."

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