Work can begin on B1391 Watchet to protect coast road permanently

Somerset West and Taunton Council carried out emergency repairs to the sea defences at Blue Anchor in late-2020 to prevent the nearby pub (now called Anchor’s Drop) and the B3191 from falling into the sea.

A more permanent scheme to protect both the road and the nearby properties has been agreed, with the contract being awarded to the Kier Property Group in April 2022 and additional funding being approved by the council in July 2022.

In one of its final actions before being abolished, the council’s planning committee voted to grant planning permission for the scheme, allowing work to begin once the granite rock armour is delivered by boat in the spring.

The existing sea defences at Blue Anchor are a mixture of angled concrete walls, constructed between the 1920s and 1980s.

The council undertook the first phase of emergency repairs after two “significant” holes in part of the wall were discovered in early-June 2020.

In early-November 2020, 1,800 tonnes of granite rock armour were delivered to Blue Anchor Bay by boat for the second phase of repairs, designed to shore up the base of the cliff to prevent further landslides.

Both stages of emergency repairs were funded by the Environment Agency (EA) to the tune of £385,000 to ensure Blue Anchor was protected during the winter storms.

The new, more permanent scheme will see more rock armour installed along this stretch of the coastline, with mesh and turf being used to re-profile the cliffs to prevent future cracks or landslides.

Rock armour arriving at Blue Anchor. (Image: Somerset West and Taunton Council)

Councillor Andrew Sully, portfolio holder for environmental services, told the full council on March 28 that work was ready to begin as soon as planning consent had been obtained.

He said in his written report: “Vessels have now been definitively secured to deliver the required rock armour from Glensanda Quarry in western Scotland to be delivered to Blue Anchor in late-April and May.

“A total 13,500 tonnes of rock will be collected from the quarry and transported by sea going vessels to Blue Anchor, before being transferred at sea to a barge to land the rock on the beach.

“The rock will then be placed against the cliffs to prevent wave undercutting.

“During the same process, the upper cliffs (largely consisting of degraded Mercia Mudstone) will be re-profiled to a ‘stable angle of repose’ and then ‘hydro seeded’ to promote vegetation growth to further aid stabilisation.

“All other permissions are in place and the scheme is ready to be delivered.”

The council’s planning committee met in Taunton on Thursday afternoon (March 30) for its final meeting before the new unitary Somerset Council took control on Saturday (April 1).

Councillor Marcia Hill said: “This is something that desperately needs to be done. This is very sensible, and I think we shouldn’t do anything to stop this from starting as soon as possible.”

Councillor Loretta Whetlor – who represents the adjoining Watchet and Williton ward – said it was essential to protect the road against any further erosion, until such a time that the route could be moved inland.

The Blue Anchor pub as seen from the beach below. (Image: Daniel Mumby)

She said: “If the properties along that road disappear into the sea, there will be no road.

“We are already suffering in Watchet by having the road closed. We need to keep the other end open, because that also has roads going off it so you can get back onto the A39.

“We’ve got to protect the people who live there – and we’ve got to keep that road.

“As King Cnut tried to prove, you cannot beat the power of the waves – but I just hope this gives an extension of time to everything along there.”

The coastline between Blue Anchor and Watchet has seen significant erosion in recent years, with the B3191 being closed at the Watchet end since mid-January for the public’s safety.

There is no money within the first budget of the unitary authority to reopen the road in the short-term, with officers warning it would be shut for “years rather than months”.

Councillor Stephen Griffiths – whose Old Cleeve and District ward includes Blue Anchor – added: “There are businesses further up the B3191, such as the Beeches and the Warren holiday parks.

“There is a small road which goes up in that direction, but you couldn’t get a car or a caravan towed through there. You couldn’t get a campervan or a waster collection vehicle.”

Councillor Mark Lithgow welcomed the plans, but said this scheme should not be seen as a reason to sit back and take no further action in the coming decades.

He said: “Thinking we’ve got 60 years of protection from this is being optimisitic. Everyone’s said how soft the land is there, and we’re just metres away from the road.

“What are we going to do about the road between now and 60 years’ time? Are we just going to sit and leep putting sticking plasters on the bits closest to the road and no worry about it?”

After around 45 minutes’ debate, the committee voted to approve the plans by 11 votes to two, with one abstention.