'Great Wall of West Shore' as height of new flood defences get mocked

North Wales Live

13 hours ago

Flood defence work at a Llandudno beach is nearing completion with one element of the scheme getting mocked online. Conwy council secured funding from Welsh Government - alongside its own capital funds - to carry out multi-million pound improvements to flood defences at the seaside resort.
The town juts out on the Creuddyn peninsula and its position with the sea on two sides has seen the resort flood previously. This saw defence work get underway last year - starting on West Shore, following by commencement on the North Shore prom.
The project on the West Shore is now almost finished and people are highlighting the underwhelming element of part the latest additions. A new wall extension has been built that has been dubbed 'The Great Wall of West Shore'.
In parts this new wall is barely above the grass field that separates West Shore parade with the promenade and main seawall.
It is not the only part of the defences so for the sake of residents hopefully not critical to protections, but its 'dwarf' size has been mocked by locals.
David Williams wrote: "Great NEWS Everyone. The Great Wall of West Shore is nearing completion. Yes, this 18 month engineering marvel is now in it's final stages."
He said he had informed the Chinese embassy of this rival to the Great Wall of China and told the International Space Station. Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox
David added: "The owners of property on West Shore will no doubt be onto their insurance providers for a swift reduction in flood risk insurance premiums." But he said there was a debate was going in health and safety over whether it is trip or 'fall-from-heights' hazard
He said: "All hail CCBC and our new tourist attraction. Llandudno really is booming."
It attracted a (presumably) sarcastic response from one resident. He said: "Brilliant, the amount of sleepless nights I have missed over this is now such a relief! Can't put in to words the excitement."
Another person asked: "Has Hadrian been made aware of this? Have you got his email address."
Continuing the wall theme, another said: "Took less time to build the Berlin Wall!"
A spokesperson for Conwy council said: "The scheme is based on coastal flood modelling, to reduce the potential for coastal flooding and its impact. In both locations, the focus is on maintaining existing lines of defence and constructing new sections of defence where potential weaknesses were identified by coastal modelling carried out by specialists HR Wallingford.
"Work at West Shore:
Reinstate stop logs in 7 locations where they have been historically located. This will then create a continuous barrier in the secondary and tertiary walls during flood events.
Extend the existing wall which runs along the rear of the pavement on West Parade for approximately 50m, with the same height and appearance as the existing wall.
Raise the kerbing around the entrance to the Dale Road car park, along with localised ground raising to increase resilience during periods of overtopping.
Construct a new access ramp from the end of the primary seawall at the bottom of the car park, to tie into the existing footpath. This will allow continuous access whilst also bolstering the defences in this location. There will also be some localised ground raising to the south of the pumping station on Abbey Road.
"After a competitive tendering process, MWT was appointed principal contractor for this £2M (North & West Shore) work. This work is funded by Welsh Government's Coastal Risk Management Programme (85%) and Conwy County Borough Council (15%)."