Plans to move Felixstowe beach huts closer to sea rejected

Beach huts in Felixstowe were damaged during a storm in April

A plan to move 19 beach huts closer to the sea to make room for others displaced by erosion has been rejected.

East Suffolk Council said that existing huts at Manor Road in Felixstowe could be brought forward 5.4m (17.7ft) to make room for 14 of the displaced huts.

Felixstowe Beach Hut and Chalet Association said the plans would make the huts "vulnerable".

The council's planning committee rejected the proposals.

In 2018, 44 huts were moved from the beach in front of the Spa Pavilion theatre to the promenade due to erosion.

A new location has been agreed for 30 of those and the current plans related to the remaining 14, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The proposal would have seen a row of 19 huts further south along the seafront moved closer to the sea, making room for 14 to sit behind them in a staggered formation so sea views could be maintained.

Julie Downton, secretary of the owners' association, said: "In the 1980s there was a second row of huts at this location, which were severely damaged by high tides and stormy weather.

"The front row crashed into the back row and several huts were washed over the edge of the promenade and into the sea."

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Huts near Manor Road were also damaged in April this year as a result of storms.

Plans to move the huts forward have been branded "ludicrous"

Ms Downton said moving beach huts "comes with an expense to hut owners".

"It seems ludicrous to put 14 huts here," she said.

"The people who are already sited there don't want to move forward as it makes them very vulnerable."

Ms Downton said the association was planning to resubmit an application for the huts to be moved north of the current proposed site.

The initial application was refused in April as it encroached on a UK and Suffolk priority habitat of vegetated shingle. 

Ms Downton said a new ecology report had been carried out, showing the beach huts and vegetation could coexist.

East Suffolk Ecology stated it was mostly bare shingle.