Huge funding boost for flood defence scheme

£5.9m has been awarded to Portsmouth City Council for them to further develop designs.

At the moment, there is no set plan for what the defences will look like, but the goal is to create a 4.5km stretch of defences from Long Curtain Moat to Eastney Barracks – which the council says will protect more than 4,000 homes.

It is also hoped the work can be used to enhance the seafront environment with aspirations to improve leisure facilities and be sympathetic to the existing landscape.

The project will be delivered by the Eastern Solent Coastal Partnership, who are expected to appoint designers in the next few weeks.

Cllr Robert New, Cllr Robert New, Portsmouth City Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment and Community Safety, said: ‘I am delighted we are now able to move forward to appointing designers and getting closer to having some plans to show the public.

‘This is a monumental project for the city and there’s understandably a lot of interest in it, which is why I can’t wait until we can take designs out to residents later this year for their comments.’

The council says that the planned work will transform the seafront for future generations, while protecting homes and the city’s heritage.

The news comes after Cllr New quashed fears that the defences would simply be a vertical sea wall.

There are three pages on the proposed flood defences in today’s edition of The News.