Road diversion plans to be brought forward

CLIFF EROSION GREATER RISK THAN PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT

- By STUART ARNOLD Local democracy reporter

Cliffs at Cowbar which are being eroded by North Sea waves

(SARAH WILLARD)

PREPARATION to divert a coastal road due to cliff top erosion is having to “proceed at pace” after it was identified at much greater risk of collapse than previously thought.

A strategy previously drawn up by Redcar and Cleveland Council and its North Yorkshire counterpart Scarborough Council at the behest of the Environment Agency said Cowbar Lane, in Cowbar, near Staithes, should be sequentially moved away southwards from the cliff edge.

The ‘managed retreat’ was to take place in three phases over a 50-year timescale.

Phase one was due to begin in the early 2030s, but updated advice has now suggested phase one of the works should be delivered by 2027.

A delegated decision report prepared for Redcar and Cleveland Council cabinet members said the cliff face at this location overlooking the North Sea had been experiencing “progressive erosion from direct wave attack and heavy rain, triggering slips and landslides”.