Hill Head Coastal Protection Project

Information Event 11/08/16 - Report

Document title: Hill Head Information Event Report

ESCP QC & Approvals

Status: Final

Date: 26/08/16

Project name: Hill Head

Report number: FBC/16-17/HH/02

Author(s): Adam Sennitt

Client: Fareham Borough Council

Prepared by: Adam Sennitt

Checked by: Sarah Bell / Yolande Larkin

Date/initials check: 26/08/16 / SB, YL

Approved by: Peter Scannell

Name (Print): Peter Scannell

Date/initials 31/08/16, PS approval:

Head of Service Approval

Approved by: Lyall Cairns

Name (Print): Lyall Cairns

Date/initials approval: 01/09/16 / LC

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1. Introduction

This report summarises the Hill Head public information event that was held about the future of the Hill Head Sea Wall and Promenade. The aim of the event was to provide information on the upcoming Phase 1 work starting in September 2016, as well as to deliver information about Phase 2, which subject to obtaining consents and funding is due to start in Summer 2017. The construction works are being delivered by the Eastern Solent Coastal Partnership (ESCP) on behalf of Fareham Borough Council (FBC).

The coastal defences at Hill Head consist of the beach, groynes and a seawall. In recent years beach levels have fallen, exposing the sea defences to additional and increased wave action. The promenade seawall is in poor condition and has recently been reopened after failure during the winter storms.

Beach re-nourishment adjacent to the poor condition seawall and extensive groyne maintenance works will improve the coastal protection provided by the beach. The seawall at Hill Head has reached the end of its serviceable life and is at high risk of significant failure during future storm events. At risk from seawall failure is the public promenade which sits on the seawall and 39 beach huts adjacent to the promenade.

The Hill Head Coastal Protection Project proposes to address the frontage issues through delivery of two phases. Phase 1 will re-nourish the historically low beach levels and implement extensive groyne maintenance. Phase 2 will replace failing sea defences and promenade.

The information event was held on the 11th August 2016 at Holy Rood Church in Stubbington. The aim was to provide detailed information to those who might be affected by the scheduled works due to commence for Phase 1 in September 2016. It also provided an opportunity for sharing information about the potential options being considered to replace the failed promenade seawall and timescale for implementation for Phase 2.

This report provides an overview of the publicity carried out prior to the event and a summary of the feedback received on the day from the attendees.

2. Information Event

2.1 Overview

Holy Rood Church in Stubbington was selected due to the success of previous exhibitions held at this venue. It is also located in close proximity to residents and an easy to find land mark for non locals. The exhibition was held from 1:00pm -7:00pm to provide the opportunity for as many people as possible to attend. Over 160 people attended the public event, with a peak number between 14.00 – 15.00.

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2.2 Advertising and Publicity

The information event was advertised through a variety of methods. A letter and leaflet was produced which summarised key information, including the date, time and location of the event. These were then delivered to over 3,300 homes, local businesses and beach hut owners, on 1st August.

The Hill Head project web page on the ESCP website was updated with the event details as well as providing up to date information on the project. Similarly, information was posted on Fareham Borough Council’s website under their latest news and press release pages. Social media updates via ESCP and Fareham Borough Council Facebook and Twitter sites were regularly posted to promote the information event. Figure 1 shows examples of social media posts leading up to and on the day.

Figure 1: Social media posts on website, Facebook and Twitter.

In total, 166 people attended the information event. On arrival, visitors were asked to sign in and mark on a map where they live and / or had interest in. The spread of visitors is shown in Figure 2. The majority of visitors were from the Hill Head and Stubbington area. There were also a number of visitors from elsewhere in Fareham and further afield such as Warsash, Gosport and Portchester. This was due to a significant number owning beach huts in the area of Phase 1 & 2 works who live outside the immediate area.

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Figure 2: Map of where visitors live and / or had interest in.

2.3 Event Content

The content of the information event was designed to communicate the scheduled Phase 1 works and development of the Phase 2 scheme, through a series of poster boards, detailing:

 Roles and responsibilities of the ESCP, exploring flood and coastal erosion risk management, and the impact of climate change,  consultation feedback from the previous awareness exhibition on the 14th March,  background and historical issues showing a timeline of problems from early 1900s to present day. Photos showed construction works from the 1920’s through to the promenade closure and seawall failure in 2015,  environmental impact showing the environmental importance of the scheme area as well as licenses and approvals that are required before the works start,  why the project is needed detailing key reasons for the works, displaying past damage,  project introduction of Phase 1 and 2 including project objectives,

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 phase 1 works of timber groynes maintenance and beach re-nourishment, showing access during works and what maintenance is to be carried out,  project timeline for Phase 2 works of sea wall replacement, detailing every key stage.

Examples of posters used at the event can be seen in Appendix A.

Additionally a presentation was available for visitors to watch, which detailed information about the Eastern Solent Coastal Partnership and about the Phase 1 and 2 construction works, including images of the scheme

Each visitor was encouraged to leave comments and / or questions at the exhibition about the Hill Head scheme. Table 1 shows a sample of comments from the information event.

Very informative and interesting, will look forward to the development.

Interesting project, look forward to watching it to completion.

Good news!

Very clear explanation of the plans and intended implementation.

Glad that the ESCP are so involved with this area of the coast.

Very reassuring. Last winter saw a lot of erosion at Hill Head and work is needed. Thanks!

Boards are informative and a lovely lady answered all my questions. Many thanks for providing this opportunity.

Delighted this is happening

Thanks – very informative!

It is so so sad to see the beach and promenade in such a sad state. Please, please, please save it for the community and us beach hut owners

Impressed with staff knowledge and the scale of the project

I feel passionate about preserving the beauty of the coastline down there. I am very pleased that this work is going ahead. I feel it is very important for the community, and also

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somewhere for our young people to go

Very reassuring. Last winter saw a lot of erosion at Hill Head and work is needed. Thanks!

Table 1: A sample of comments received from the public.

FAQs have been compiled from these and are detailed in Appendix B. Photographs of the information event can be viewed in Appendix C.

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APPENDIX A – Examples of information event posters

Overview of Hill Head coastal project Reasons for works to be carried out

Phase 1 - Beach re-nourishment works Phase 1 – Timber maintenance works

Environmental impact of works Timeline for phase 2 works

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APPENDIX B – FAQs

Q. Will we still be able to access the beach huts during construction?

Yes, the beach huts can still be accessed during the works this September. There will be a line of fencing erected to stop access to the beach from the promenade and accessing the car park and public toilets area from the promenade.

Q. Presentation slide says that there are properties at risk of flooding - where are these properties located?

There are properties at flood risk locally, east of Giblet Ore. These are the properties that flooded in the 2013/ 2014 winter storms.

Q. Where is the sediment coming from, and is it local?

The sediment is a marine dredged aggregate taken from the nearest licenced dredging area.

Q. Why did Southsea (Pyramids) get works on site straight away?

The Pyramids area in Southsea suffered a serious structural failure on Christmas eve 2015 which progressively got worse over the following days. This lead to a high risk of flooding in the following weeks to over a thousand properties in the area if nothing was done. Emergency works were therefore sanctioned by PCC and subsequently paid for through the Environment Agency. The repairs here are still a temporary measure, not permanent. The permanent solution to this area is still being considered. The seawall failure at Hill Head was on a much lower scale than Southsea with little to no risk to residential properties in the short term. The failure was not eligible for EA emergency funding. The promenade at Hill Head was re-opened despite suffering the failure and is planned to be re-built in summer 2017.

Q. Will the newly-imported shingle cause issues at the entrance channel to the Sailing Club, i.e. additional dredging requirements?

The long shore drift in this area is from west to east, thus away from the sailing club harbour entrance. The shingle that accumulates in the harbour entrance predominantly comes from the eroding cliffs and the beaches west of the sailing club.

Q. Did you consider rock armour groynes?

Rock armour groynes were discounted for a number of reasons. Properly maintained timber groynes are adequate for this wave environment and have been used successfully on the frontage since the 1930's at least. Introducing new rock armour groynes will also change the

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frontage appearance considerably, most likely negatively. Rock armour groynes would also have impacts upon the area of the designated environmental habitats at Hill Head which would require assessing through the lengthy environment Impact assessment process.

Q. When you widen the promenade, can you use different coloured paving to 'separate' people from the beach hut front area please?

This request and variations of it have been made by a number of people previously. These types of options are being considered as part of the Phase 2 design development. We hope to hold another public event in late September, early October to show the public a draft preferred option.

Q. Could access to the Sailing Club be made available at weekends to facilitate dinghy and cruiser access to HHSC?

Our contractor is organising to allow access for the Optimist dinghies to access the beach on the training day on 17th September, we are also in the process of arranging access for a coffee morning on the 30th September as well as allowing the occasional Sailing club bar deliveries which allow the club to function more effectively. We shall also liaise with our contractor to ensure as much access as possible for Sailing club usage over the weekend

Q. What roads will these trucks delivering the shingle be travelling down to the beach area? Has consideration been given to roads such as Old Street that are quite narrow and with grass banks that need to be protected from trucks mounting them to avoid other traffic?

Access to the site for lorries is along the A27, B3334 Titchfield Road, Stubbington lane, Bells lane, Crofton Lane, Hill head Road and then Cliff Road. It is not intended to use Old Street to access the site.

Q. Is whoever is responsible for maintaining the Solent Way involved in these discussions, or is it FBC anyway?

The Solent Way is managed by HCC. During the works the public will be diverted around the site with signage erected to ensure they are aware of the diversion.

Q. Will the new shingle be golden colour to match the surroundings?

The shingle is a marine dredged shingle from the nearest licenced dredging area. The shingle size has been chosen to be as close to the existing shingle size as possible, while being slightly coarse to be more resistant to erosion. We have inspected the shingle stockpile and the colour is similar to that at Hill Head, however, as with all aggregates there

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will of course be some natural variability in colour and appearance.

Q. Must the replacement really be done in peak summer months? Can there not be a bit of give on this? People are important as well as 'birds' etc.

The project must have all the required consents and permissions in place, as with any development. Due to the environmental designations (RAMSAR, SSSI, SPA) present at Hill Head we must have approval from external organisations such as the MMO, NE and EA. As part of this process these bodies have stipulated a condition of no working between October 1st and March 30th annually so as to reduce impacts upon over wintering birds. While there are concessions granted at times for emergency works or slightly over running projects this requirement is otherwise strictly enforced.

Q. The route and distance to the toilet block is going to be increased dramatically during this September's work schedule - could you please provide some temporary toilets (mobile building site - single cubicle type) nearer the row of beach huts (either end) whilst work is being undertaken?

We will look into this further to see if it is practical to install and service.

Q. What colour will the shingle be? Will it be golden like it is now? Or grey and unattractive like recent works at Lee on Solent?

The shingle is a 20-40mm marine dredged aggregate; it will contain no sand or clay/ silt material. We have inspected the shingle stockpile and are happy with its colour, however, as with all aggregates there will of course be some natural variability in colour and appearance.

Q. Are you repairing the groynes before you re-nourish the beach?

Yes, it is intended to begin with the groynes nearest the car park and then work away from the beach re-charge area.

Q. Current plan blocks all access for beach hut owners to toilet blocks, in essence there will be no toilet facilities for the beach huts. Could contractors review maintaining small access path through edge of car park, or perhaps behind the beach huts, for owners to still access the toilets?

This has been examined and we have taken the decision that in order to effectively manage Health & Safety on site that no public access will be permitted along this section. The public shall have to walk around the site to access the toilets.

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APPENDIX C – Photographs of the information event

Example of information posters used Visitors reading information boards

Visitors questioning the operations team Slideshow presentation showing photos about the scheme and information on Phase 1 and 2.

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