Breakwater plan in 3-D soon
THE proposed breakwater is still very much on schedule and as much as it has always been accepted that there would be many battles to fight and problems to solve, we now are getting a clear picture on how to drive this forward.
It has been said that I ignored the skilled staff at Havant Borough Council.
This was a deliberate move choosing to take alternative advice from other sources rather than the people who have come up with a programme of prevention rather than a total cure.
Having said that, the officers in charge of the beach defences along with other relevant council members have been more than helpful in providing all the information they have for us to examine and use with the information we have gained from our sources.
The proposal the council has come up for the defence of the Eastern shoreline of the Island will protect the homes and will work.
What it won't do is enhance the area and help turn it into a "place to visit" and it is this problem we are working hard to overcome.
We are continuing to study all the hydrographical charts for sediment movement and at present our team have not seen anything that cannot be worked around.
We fully understand and except that there will be many issues to cater for, and we think our amended proposals will go a long way to appease our critics.
Our plan is for the water and sediment still to flow along its intended natural path but in a controlled movement.
It goes without saying that no one has any control of the movement of the shingle as this is carried out by storms rather than tides and currents.
Once the breakwater is finished, this problem will never have to be addressed again.
We are busy looking at the funding issues on the proposed sea defence work against spending on a tourist attraction and sea defence work.
Unfortunately, at present, and under government rules, all the allocated money has to be used for defence work and NOT for enhancement or betterment of the area which is something that doesn't make business sense.
We are investigating this weird regulation and feel that if the money allocated for the defence work can be matched with private investors' money, then the breakwater can be built sooner rather than later.
At the last public meeting in April, it was asked if we could make a model so people can look at what the development will look like once it is finished.
We have gone one step further than this and are working on a 3-D video presentation which will be available to anyone free of charge after its first showing at the next public meeting sometime late August.
I would also like to remind you that although the breakwater was "my idea," It is "your breakwater."
Alan Priddy
South Road
Hayling Island
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Friday 10 February 2012
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