'No promises' washed away Devon coastal road will be reopened


Caroline Voaden MP spoke with the water and flooding minister and roads minister on Wednesday

There are "no promises" a scenic coastal road in Devon that washed away during stormy weather will be repaired, the local MP has said following talks with ministers.

Parts of the A379 between Torcross and Slapton were damaged when its sea defences failed during recent storms.

South Devon MP Caroline Voaden spoke at Prime Minister's Questions and then met ministers over how £10.5bn of funds to improve coastal and flood defences could be accessed.  She also said the Department for Transport was open to a submission by Devon County Council for the "repair and reopening" of the A379 "and/or" improvements to "the back roads", adding: "No promises were given but I will ask DCC to provide an estimate".

Voaden told BBC Radio Devon: "No decisions can be made until they had an idea of what that's going to look like financially."  She said parts of her meeting on Wednesday with Minister for Water and Flooding Emma Hardy and Minister for Roads and Buses Simon Lightwood were "positive".


The road was damaged by storms more than a week ago

Voaden also raised the possibility of an "ambitious coastal defence scheme", which could see the replacement of shingle into the bay and an offshore barrier to give the area "more stability in the long term and protect the shoreline from more storm damage". She told the House of Commons on Wednesday about the "complexity of the situation".

In response, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: "I know communities have been badly affected by recent storms and damage to the A379 is very concerning."  He said the government was investing to improve coastal and flood defences. "I want to thank the Environment Agency (EA) staff for working hard right now putting extra protections in place and supporting people ahead of further wet weather," he said.

Resident and landlady of local business Start Bay Inn, Gale Stubbs, said she and her two children were born and raised in Torcross, so understood the importance of the A379. She said her biggest concern was the homes along the seafront, adding they had to be the "priority".

Stubbs said the community was grateful for the ongoing work but desperately needed more sea defences in front of the village "quite urgently".

Voaden added the Environment Agency (EA) owned the sea wall and teams had been working "really hard" to try and do what they could "to make sure the houses are safe".  At the meeting, she said she had asked the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to give the EA funding to do more repair work and restoration in front of the houses "more quickly" than if they went through normal channels.

"The EA has a long list of jobs that are on their list to do and, when something like this happens, there can't be something that goes to the top of the queue," she said. "I have been contacted by the head of the EA who is happy to meet with me."  Voaden added: "It feels to me everybody is being as proactive as they can be."

A Defra spokesperson has previously said: "We're committed to supporting coastal communities, including in the South West, through our record investment of £10.5bn in protecting against flooding and coastal erosion by 2036, benefitting nearly 900,000 properties."  It also has said that it inherited flood defences in the worst condition on record and had reprioritised more than £100m into urgent maintenance works across the UK.

South Devon MP starts petition after A379 Slapton coastal road collapse


Part of the A379 Slapton Line near Torcross, Devon, collapsed during stormy weather on Monday night

Thousands have signed a petition calling for more government support for those affected by storm damage to a coastal road.

Caroline Voaden, Liberal Democrat MP for South Devon, set up the petition following the partial collapse of the A379 Slapton Line near Torcross, which has caused disruption in the area. As of 09:30 GMT on Saturday, more than 9,500 people had signed the petition, which calls for help for "communities affected by coastal erosion in Start Bay".

The government said it was aware the storm damage was a "big shock" to residents and that it was working with the county council to determine its "next steps". A government spokesperson said: "We are providing over £443m for roads maintenance in the area over the next four years, along with £667m across the UK into protecting communities from the sea."

The road is set to remain shut for an extended period after an estimated tens of millions of pounds of damage was caused.

County council leader Julian Brazil apologised after he suggested the road might not be repaired, which sparked angry comments from residents.

Voaden said the response to the petition showed the "strength of feeling about the crisis" and how worried people in the community were. "Communities affected by coastal erosion at Start Bay are the canary in the coalmine in our fight against climate change," she added. "The government must treat this issue with the seriousness and urgency it deserves."

(BBC news article continues)

When I first visited the beach in the 1960s it still had the notices warning of unexploded ordnance.

The presence of (severely deformed) sheet piling indicates that this is almost certainly the same A379 section that was destroyed by Storm Emma in 2018.

In which case Devon County Council and/or National Highways should probably be looking for a much more robust solution this time.

The east-facing section of Devon coast from the Exe estuary south to Start Point has always faced a battle with the elements, which it invariably loses. Anyone wanting to understand this should read the history of Hallsands, where the original village was completely wiped out by a succession of storms during the first years of the 20th century, with waves sometimes breaking right over its houses. Eventually the last buildings were lost in 1917, and a new village built inland. That village is now on the coast, and will face the same battles.