3rd November 2021
England’s Coastal Path Update
Regular readers of these notes may remember that I have written previously about delays in providing the new Coastal Path. This time I will give an update on the section from Silverdale to Cleveleys.
Work started in Feb 2016 on the section from Silverdale to Cleveleys, which will be about 82km long. It assumes that the Knott End to Fleetwood Ferry will continue to operate. The publication of the report about the proposed route was originally expected in 2017, but was achieved on the 8th Jan 2020, with the deadline for making comments being 4th March 20. Part of the reason for the delay in publication was the need to change the way the environmental assessments were made following a successful appeal by protestors against a planned wind farm in Ireland to the European Courts.
Originally when reports were published about the intended route for a section of the Coastal Way the route was written up as a long narrative. In 2019 Natural England changed their policy so that a section would be split into a small number of chapters, with each chapter effectively being a subsection. The Silverdale to Cleveleys section contained six chapters. Earlier this year Secretary of State approval was given to three chapters, with the Planning Inspectorate now considering the other three chapters. So the situation now is –
- Silverdale to Bolton le Sands with Planning Inspectorate
- Bolton le Sands to Heysham Approved
- Heysham to Lancaster with Planning Inspectorate
- Lancaster to Glasson Dock Approved
- Glasson Dock to Fluke Hall with Planning Inspectorate
- Fluke Hall to Cleveleys Approved
As can probably be guessed the parts approved are bits that had little in the way of potentially controversial items. As to how long the Planning Inspectorate will take to consider the parts with them is a big unknown.
Let us consider the proposed route from Cleveleys to Lancaster –
Starting at Cleveleys going to Fluke Hall (Chapter 6) what it is proposed to do is to spend £11,401 on signage, with no other works being required. The public already has access to the coast on this subsection, so if this subsection is declared to be open for use by the public, then the public will not have gained any new access,
For the Glasson to Fluke Hall subsection (Chapter 5) that includes Pilling Embankment, if Natural England's proposals gain Secretary of State approval as they have proposed it, then the expected implementation costs will be £282,758, which will be an improvement on what now exists, but I do not see this happening until at least 2024. This large sum of money includes provision for a lot of new fencing, much of which we think is unnecessary. Our argument at the expected public inquiry is that further improvements to the proposed route can be made. It is likely that landowning and maybe also shooting interests are likely to argue that the Natural England’s proposals are already too generous. Pilling Embankment involves four landowners, of which three are considered to be hostile to public access.
To the east of Pilling Embankment is the subsection from Glasson to Lancaster (Chapter 4), where it is proposed to spend £9,194 on signage plus £5,108 on steps, boundary crossings and surfacing. For £5,108 you are not going to see much in the way of works. The public may possibly not notice the changes, apart from the fact that some of the woodwork is likely to look new, and it may possibly make the coastal way slightly easier to use at a couple of locations.
Lancashire is not going to see any noticeable improvement to access to the coast for some time. However some other counties have already seen improvements to their coastal access.
Looking at the Coastal Way in England it consists of 67 sections of which only 15 sections are presently open for use by the walking public. So far this calendar year only two sections have been opened for use by the public.
In Dec 2016 the Secretary of State gave approval to section of the route between Ramsgate and Whitstable which is expected to be 40km long, and now nearly five years later the section is still not officially open to the public. This being the section with the oldest approval which is not yet open.
In the North West the only sections that are officially open for use by the public are from Allonby to Whitehaven, Whitehaven to Silecroft and around Walney Island.
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Coastal Access Update
This is subject to further delays, which the following examples in the NW illustrates -
In Sep 2015 the Secretary of State approved the route of the Coastal Path from Whitehaven to Silecroft, which was going to be 55km long, which at the time was expected to open early 2017, with the works that are required being arranged by Cumbria CC. In reality good access already existed on the coast from St Bees to Whitehaven, so works were only needed from St Bees to Silecroft. The date then slipped to early Summer 2017, which then slipped to early Summer 2018, before slipping to Late Summer 2018 and then to Early 2019, before slipping further to Mid 2019 and then to Late 2019, before slipping to Late 2020 (it slipped a year in a matter of a couple of months). It is now expected in Early 2021. This means that an initial estimated 18 month implementation period has now become 5 and a bit years. This slippage is not a good omen, for this was meant to be the first section of the Coastal Way in the NW to create new access. The official reason for the delay is problems with the contract with Cumbria County Council and issues near BNFL Sellafield.
On a positive note the Coastal Way around Walney Island opened in Mid Feb 20, so this became the first section in the NW to create new access. The official route for this section is 33km long.
Regarding the Cleveleys to Liverpool section, this being is a distance of about 117km, which will include the Ribble Estuary. Originally the report on the proposed route was expected in early 2019, which then slipped to Nov 19, before slipping further to early 2020, and then to late summer because of Covid-19, and was eventually achieved on the 7th Oct 20. It seems to be constant story of delays followed by more delays. The publication consists of 6 chapters with the first 3 and a bit being in Lancs, with the rest being in Merseyside Area.
My expectation is that Chapters 1 (Blackpool to Freckleton), 4 (Tarleton to Southport), 5 (Southport to Cabin Hill – nr Formby) and 6 (Cabin Hill to Liverpool Pier Head) will be confirmed sometime in 2021 with possibly some small changes.
I am expecting that the Planning Inspectorate will take some time to consider the representation to Chapter 2 which is the section from Freckleton to Preston, for it is proposed to use the verge of 4km of dual carriageway as part of the route – A584 and A583, which is some distance from the Ribble Estuary. It is claimed this is necessary for land management reasons.
Another representation was made in respect of Chapter 3 which goes from Preston to Hesketh Bank which is planned to use existing walking routes. Potential exists to have parts of the route on flood defence embankments near Hutton and also to go through the former tip near Longton. This again will need to be considered by the Planning Inspectorate.
Birkenhead to Burton (Welsh border): a distance of about 41km for which a report on the proposed route was initially expected to be late 2018, before it slipped to early 2019 and then to late 2019, before slipping a few more times, which was eventually published on the 16th Dec 20. As to why it took so long to produce such a bland report I do not know. Making a response to this document will be the responsibility of Merseyside Area
My expectation is that Chapter 1 (Birkenhead to Hilbre Point – also known as Red Rocks) and Chapter 3 (Neston to the Welsh Border) will be approved. However, a representation in respect of Chapter 2 (Hilbre Point to Neston) is probable, which will need be referred to the Planning Inspectorate for their consideration.
David Kelly
Jan 21