MP to discuss Sidmouth’s crumbling cliffs

EAST Devon MP Hugo Swire and Councillor Stuart Hughes are to meet to discuss the plight of crumbling Pennington Point.

“He is as concerned as I am about it,” said Cllr Hughes, Devon County Council’s lead member for flooding, yesterday (Thursday).

East Devon District Council last month pledged that surveys will be carried to look at the possibility of extending the rock armouring in front of Alma Bridge.

A short-term effort to shore up the deteriorating stretch of coastline using hundreds of tonnes of shingle from the River Sid was dashed when the material was washed away by stormy seas.

Councillor Hughes says emergency armouring is now crucial to protecting Sidmouth from tidal flooding.

“To place this material [which was dredged from the river] on its own under the cliffs was never going to work,” he added.

“A combination of rock revetment and then placing the shingle behind the revetment is what is required.”