Road to be re-routed as potential cliff top collapse risks cutting off homes
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”.
It also described how a hamlet of cottages lay immediately behind the road, while, on the north side of Staithes harbour, on Cowbar Bank, there were more properties, along with an RNLI lifeboat station and a Yorkshire Water pumping station.
It said: “The situation has been ongoing historically.
“Cowbar Lane is at the cliff edge in this location and is now at immediate risk of collapse, according to a recently received report into [a] significant rockfall last year.
“[The] loss of this access road would result in the abandonment of the properties and relocation of the lifeboat/pumping station, as there are no viable alternative access routes.”
The report, approved by the cabinet, suggested a direct contract award be made to an engineering consultancy, AtkinsRealisUK so that it could provide advice and design on a new section of road along with the required relocation of any utilities.
It said the council had a legal duty to keep Cowbar Lane open, adding: “We now need to proceed at pace with the design of the realigned road and associated activity.”
The report said an application was being drawn up for funding from the Environment Agency, which could be up to £250,000 if awarded.
A business case to be made out for the appointment of a contractor and the necessary consents for the work planned would also have to be approved.
The cabinet document suggested one property would have to be demolished to make way for the road diversion.
The realignment of the lane and the utilities within it would allow local residents to stay in their homes without loss of vehicle access or services and the continued operation of the lifeboat/pumping station.
It would also permit the continued provision of the National Cycle Network Route 1 which uses a route taking in the Cleveland Way, running parallel to the coast.
Redcar and Cleveland Council has previously identified coastal erosion as one of several ‘red risks’ included in a corporate risk register which is reviewed twice a year.
While an extreme case, the former Holbeck Hall Hotel, further down the coast in Scarborough, famously fell into the sea following a major landslide in June 1993.
The hotel had already been evacuated and part of the slippage was captured during a live news broadcast.