Staff representing Fylde Council, designers Jacobs UK, and the contractor Volker Stevin shared information and images centred upon the £12.1 St. Anne’s Sea Wall development at a public exhibition the week at St Anne’s Town Hall. Visitors were presented with details of not only the time-line of the development, but also the future of popular St Anne’s attractions such as the Miniature Railway, the long-established beach huts and the mini golf course.
Fylde Council expect the construction work to commence in Autumn 2023, concluding during the Summer of 2025. Phase One of the Sea Wall Development will begin with a compound being set set up off South Promenade on Fairhaven Road Car Park. The boating lake will be filled to create a temporary surface for the beach huts and also a temporary car park. The beach huts will then be relocated to this temporary surface for 12 months – from Autumn 2023 to Autumn 2024. They will then be returned near to their original position. The Western length of track of St Anne’s Miniature Railway will be removed during Phase One. However, at the end of the project, the Miniature Railway will occupy its former position between the beach huts and the golf course, with new engine sheds being constructed.
The final stages of Phase One will see construction of the Promenade and the set back wall. All work areas will be reinstated, including the mini-golf course. The beach huts will be relocated near to their original position and the mini-railway will be reinstated.
Phase Two will see the setting up of pre-cast steps, the construction of the Promenade and the set back wall between the Lifeboat Station and The View Café. The boating lake will also be restored.
Wave modelling has shown that the existing promenade level needs to be 2 metres higher than it currently is, and it needs to be backed by a 760mm high setback wall to protect local residents and businesses. A new sea wall will protect the area from a 1 in 200-year storm, with climate change factored, in for the next 50 years. It is then proposed to raise the promenade a further 1m in year 50 to provide a further 50-year design life (100 years in total with climate change), and flexibility has been allowed for this in the design.
Images of the completed modern Sea Wall around the Island Site, replacing the existing ageing 90-year-old structure which is at increasing risk of overtopping and structural damage, were shared at the exhibition and are available for viewing on-line at https://new.fylde.gov.uk/st-annes-seawall/. Opportunities for comment are also available via this link.
9 Responses
I totally appreciate what has to be done. Also love the plans. Can’t wait for it to be finished.
Please do not put the boating lake back, keep it as a car-park & get some revenue.
This boating lake let’s the whole of that area down. Detritus collects all year around by the café, it is hardly ever removed, looks awful, the water becomes filthy and in the warm summer months the water PH changes and if dogs or children go in they become ill.
I went to the meeting on Monday & aired these views with local business men agreeing.
One local business lady suggested another area for children, water & sand. The Splash Land is so popular. One of the team employed to build the wall from down south said somewhere they had built a child’s play area right by the wall. I walk this area 5 days out of 7. Thankyou.
I absolutely love the plans for St Annes aesthetically and also from an environmental-safeguard perspective. I agree that the boating lake area would be better used for parking or water fun for young families.
Do not make the boating pool into an eyesore car park. With a bit of landscaping – perhaps a little island in the centre – it could be made an attractive addition to the rest of the prom
I love the idea although what about people who are disabled and in wheelchairs or mobility scooters. I don’t see any ramps or disabled sand wheelchairs available.
Looks great. Why not approach the owners of the Pier to do something about it. It is in a terrible state. Surely it can not be allowed to sit there in its present condition. A blot on the landscape. Do the council not have the power to say either they repair it or it will be demolished.
Looks good? Yet there is sand problem with St.Annes. the Dunes for one are advancing towards the pier at a not a controlled rate.
Hope it turns out to be as brilliant as Cleveleys sea front.
Still a natural shoreline will be lost.♥️☯️
Neil The island as they call it is not a natural shoreline now
Will look great when finished but why get rid of the boating lake , plenty of people use the boats on the lake just needs cleaning up maybe the council should hire people too do it ! The pier does need work to it , it looks a mess wish somebody would buy it and either extend the pier like they have on a few piers down south or just make the original pier look a lot better
Seems way over the top to me. If, and it’s a big if, the sea rises by 2m then it’s going to flood the area around the Beach Cafe in a southerly direction so, a similar construction will be needed up to Fairhaven Lake to meet the construction there. If it’s considered that the sea won’t affect this area then 2m is too much. Has any thought been given to extending the existing sea defence wall that runs from the pier towards the boating lake up to the Fairhaven Rd / Beach Cafe area. The facilities/ buildings lost that are still needed could be spread along the promenade area between the Pier and Fairhaven Lake. Or just move this length of sea wall inland by 20m or so. We seem to be spending lots of public money to protect facilities that are not used often enough by visitors to warrant their retention.