Felixstowe: Six beach huts' future secured, but 14 not so lucky

The beach huts, near the Spa Pavilion theatre in Felixstowe, were moved onto the prom after a storm in 2018

The future of six beach huts that were moved after a storm has been secured, but 14 will not be saved.

Forty-four huts 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.

The council said although it had secured the future for another six, all other options for the remaining 14 had been exhausted.

It said officers met with the Beach Hut and Chalet Association to the matter as a "priority" but "sadly there will be some beach hut owners for whom an allocation will not be available".

A council spokesman told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "The council has a further six spaces available that have already received planning permission - four at The Dip, one additional space at the extreme left of Manor End and a third row site at Brackenbury, giving a total of 30 hut sites.

"This will leave 14 hut owners without a site."

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Felixstowe is believed to have been one of the first resorts in the country to have beach huts, with the traditional seaside cabins having graced the sands there since the 1890s.

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.

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.

Plans for 16 at Manor End were turned down because of the loss of coastal vegetated shingle that it was said would have an impact on biodiversity.

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