UPDATE April 3: Cornwall Council have now released a statement about the sea wall damage at Castle Beach. Scroll to the bottom of the article for more.
---
A half collapsed sea wall has the owners of a Falmouth beach cafe worried that their business is under threat.
The crumbling wall at Castle Beach was first reported to Cornwall Council in early March, but has been getting steadily worse thanks to pounding storm waves and unrelenting bad weather.
(ABOVE) A video taken by Ian Cocklin showing the extent of the damage to the wall.
Jayne and Steve Gray, from the Castle Beach Cafe, are now concerned that even more damage could be done if the wall is not fixed soon - and in the meantime they are losing business while the beach is closed off.
“This morning we sent one of our staff to open up,” Jayne said, “and when she got there she saw the tape all across the top of the ramp.”
(BELOW) The collapsing sea wall and walkway near the Castle Beach Cafe, as seen from above.
A “complete lack of courtesy” from Cornwall Council is what has annoyed Jayne most.
“Clearly we are not allowed to go down there and open up,” she said.
“We are officially closed now and nobody even phoned us to say what they were going to do.”
When the damage was first reported, the council classed it as “cosmetic” or “superficial” according to Jayne and their only response was to put red plastic crash barriers blocking off the damage to visitors.
These barriers have now washed away, and been replaced, three times.
“Cornwall Council's policy now is not to do anything until it's like this,” said Steve, surveying the damage this week.
“In the past they would have pointed it, but they don't seem to think financially that's the best policy anymore.
“To be fair to everybody the weather has been dreadful, but the wall wouldn't have collapsed if they had repaired it earlier.”
(ABOVE) Some of the broken up masonry has already been washed away.
To make matters worse, facing stones have also started to come loose from around the foundations of the cafe.
“A stitch in time saves nine,” said Jayne.
“Now, because of their messing around, we are losing trade over the Easter weekend, which is not good.”
Castle Beach Cafe was severely damaged by a storm in the autumn of 2004 and took almost a year to be repaired.
UPDATE: A spokeswoman for Cornwall Council said an assessment in early March revealed damage to the granite facing of the sea wall.
"As a result we put up temporary barriers to protect visitors to the area," she said.
"While initial investigations took place to determine how best to repair the facing, we carried out regular checks of the area and replaced the barriers when they were blown away due to the adverse weather conditions."
Subsequent damage to the wall over the weekend, which affected the top of the slipway, lead to the council taping off the area to prevent access while further barriers were delivered to the site.
"Staff then returned to the scene later in the morning to explain the situation to the owners of the café," the spokewoman added.
"The barriers were installed by midday and the tape removed, restoring access.
"We will be carrying out works to prevent further damage in the short term before devising a permanent solution."
As of Wednesday, April 3 Castle Beach Cafe had reopened.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel