PLANS for flood defence work on Weymouth seafront have been scaled down – but still look set to start next year.

As reported in the Dorset Echo, Weymouth and Portland Borough Council put a bid in with the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) for £27m for work which would include raising the height of the Esplanade.

But following meetings with Defra engineers, Cllr Jeff Cant, chairman of the borough council management committee, said the same level of defence could be achieved by banking up the sand on the beach. The funding in the first phase could then be used for the harbour walls on the Melcombe Regis side and improving the defence barrier at the far end of the inner harbour.

Cllr Cant said: “This would reduce our bid to around £10m and also significantly reduce the disruption raising the Esplanade would cause.”

Protecting the town from flooding is estimated to cost around £100m, with works going on for around 30 years.

The LEP funding bid scheme has been running for three years and, so far, 95 per cent of the cash has gone to the east Dorset area and the conurbation, with only five per cent reaching the more rural west of the county.

Cllr Cant said: “Our case for flood prevention investment starts to address this imbalance and also responds to the Government’s request to LEPs to give serious weight to bids which include flood prevention.

“We have all been campaigning hard with the LEP to make sure the west of the County is fairly represented in this bid process.

“Cllr Deborah Croney the Leader of North Dorset who represents the Tri Council on the Board of the LEP has been very active and Richard Drax, our CEO Matt Prosser and I have very recently been to London to put our case to Rory Stewart under Secretary for the Environment, who gave us a very fair and supportive hearing.

“We have been working closely with flood relief specialists from Defra and our case has been strengthened by the fact that they have the power to block planning applications in any area that is not addressing the potential for flooding.”

The borough council has been working for some time to tackle the threat of flooding. A report by the Environment Agency revealed that a combination of tide, sea level rise and wind – which is described as a ‘one in 200 year event' – could flood a significant part of the town in and around Melcombe Regis.

The LEP has been finalising its 14-strong list of bids for Government funding.

Cllr Cant added that the borough council expects to hear this autumn whether their bid for flood defence funding has been successful.

“If we get the go ahead work would start next year.”