Cleveleys Coast Protection: Best in the Northwest … and that's official !
26 May 2009
The Cleveleys Coast Protection scheme has scooped yet another top accolade. At the North West Construction Industry Awards 2009 held in Southport on Thursday
21 May, the scheme saw off tough competition to win the top award, Project of
the Year.
The £19m scheme at Cleveleys was delivered by a partnership of Wyre Borough Council,
Birse Coastal and Cleveleys New Wave and was funded by DEFRA, the Environment
Agency and ERDF through the Northwest Development Agency.
Upon receiving the award, Rob Posner, Director of Neighbourhood Services for
Wyre BC stated ‘What has been delivered at Cleveleys is exceptional, it has been
widely acclaimed throughout the coastal community, has drawn massive interest
from around the UK onto the north west region and the project has been embraced
by the local community as its own’
The scheme comprised construction of 1.1km of precast concrete stepped revetment
to replace the existing, time-expired coast defences, creation of a new promenade,
seating, shelters, feature lighting, a new café and extensive landscaping.
The scheme is a true exemplar of modern construction; an iconic design and a
high-quality end product with a low carbon footprint. It has been delivered in accordance with the principles of Constructing Excellence,
engaged multiple stakeholders and demonstrates numerous examples of innovation
and best practice. What makes the scheme so exceptional, however, is that it has made a real difference
to the local environment, the community, people’s lives and their general well-being.
The blend of engineering and aesthetics, the uplifting colours of materials and
the ‘flow’ achieved in the layout makes this project stand out from other public
realm schemes and proves that a major construction project can be completed to
the complete satisfaction of the customer and the local community.
When awarding the prestigious title of ‘project of the year’ to the Cleveleys
scheme, the judges commented that ‘The Wyre BC / Birse Coastal partnership won
in the category because of the regeneration that the coastal defence work had
inspired. The transformation to the area has created such a sense of place. In
addition, the technical challenges overcome (for example relating to Landscape
Architecture in a hostile environment) were significant’.
The final phase of the scheme at Cleveleys is currently under construction and
will complete the defences for 25,500 properties to a 1 in 200 year storm event
design standard.
