A FUNDING award of £50,000 will enable the next steps in protecting a town’s waterfront area from regular flooding.

Certain areas of Saltash suffer from significant overtopping during Spring tides, says the Town Council, and this is predicted to get considerably worse over the coming years.

The Saltash Coastal Communities Team is made up of volunteers from local businesses, groups, residents and councillors. They’ve now appointed the John Grimes Partnership to carry out a study of the Waterfront area and explore what sorts of public realm and flood protection improvements might work best.

Some form of barrier could provide protection from the increasing number of predictable flood events, as well as from weather-related tidal surges that may occur, says Town Councillor Richard Bickford, who chairs the Coastal Communities Team (CCT).

He said: “The John Grimes Partnership were chosen following a formal tender process which included interviews. Their bid was impressive and they clearly showed they understood the issues and area.

“I hope this will form the basis for much larger funding bids to carry out the vital protection work, as well as making some carefully chosen improvements to the public realm areas to enhance the appeal and experience for residents and visitors alike,” he continued.

“A public consultation to illustrate potential design options is planned for the autumn, however Covid restrictions mean we may need to take a different approach to engaging with people. This means it is important that everyone in the town is aware of what is going on and what we are planning to do so that they can spread the word now and keep an eye open for further details.”

Tom White, from the John Grimes Partnership, said: “We are delighted to be appointed for the study, and look forward to working with the CCT and wider community to bring forward a plan to protect and improve this beautiful area over the coming years.”