Businessman spends £300,000 on flood defence

12 hours ago

Miles DavisDevon political reporter

Rob Braddick is spending about £300,000 on a reinforced concrete seawall to protect his clifftop business

BBC Rob Braddick is wearing a yellow hard hat and a yellow hi-vis jacket. A yellow container holding concrete is on the swing arm of the crane over the beach behind him. — Rob Braddick is spending about £300,000 on a reinforced concrete seawall to protect his clifftop business

A businessman is spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on a seawall in an attempt to protect his clifftop restaurant and bar on the north Devon coast.

Rob Braddick, owner of the Pier House in Westward Ho!, said it was time to "grasp the nettle" before it was too late.

Parts of the cliff near his business have already been severely eroded, and seawater previously flooded into the amusement arcade below.

Braddick said he had been planning the 57m (187ft) flood defence for years and had to get permission from Natural England, the Environment Agency and Torridge District Council before work began at Christmas.

A large crane is being used to put the concrete blocks in place outside The Pier House in Westward Ho!

An aerial view of The Pier House restaurant and bar overlooking the sea at Westward Ho! with a large red crane to the right of it. There are static holiday homes surrounding the restaurant. — A large crane is being used to put the concrete blocks in place outside The Pier House in Westward Ho!

The wall is being built in sections and will be painted to blend in with the natural environment

The view from the beach of the new wall under construction in front of the bar and restaurant with a large red crane to the left. — The wall is being built in sections and will be painted to blend in with the natural environment

He is the fifth generation of his family to run the business, and owns several other bars and restaurants in the town, including The Fairway Buoy, Crabby Dicks, The Waterfront Inn, and Seafield House - a 19th Century building overlooking the sea on the coast path.

The hospitality boss also took over the lease of the Seafield car park from Torridge District Council 10 years ago and made it free for people to use.

In 2014, tonnes of seawater flooded the amusement arcade beneath the bar and restaurant.

And, following another incident, Braddick said he wanted to protect his family business for the benefit of future generations.

"Two years ago, we lost a corner of the car park, which made me sit up straight and think we've got a bit of an issue going on here," he said.

There were "quite a lot of hoops" to go through to get all of the necessary permission to carry out the work, he added.

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An Environment Agency plan for the wider area's coastal defences intends to "hold the line" by maintaining and improving existing seawall defences and "replacing them with much larger structures as required".

"It's not the best time in hospitality, to be chucking money over a cliff edge, but it's erosion of the car park which will eventually be the erosion of the restaurant and bar," Braddick said.

He added that "In an ideal world" it would not be his responsibility to build sea defences, but given that he owns the land he is trying to protect he said he "just had to get on with it".

"One day I'll be able to stand here, or get wheeled down here, and look at it and think actually that's quite nice, I protected that for the next generation," he said.

Work on the seawall is due to finish mid-May, and Braddick hopes it will protect the property for "another 100 years".

The BBC has approached the Environment Agency and Natural England for comment.

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