That sinking feeling - cost of controversial West Kirby flood wall runneth over by £4 million

The cost of building a major new flood barrier in West Kirby has risen by more than £4m.

The flood defence, which could save more than 20 lives and protect more than 70 properties from flooding, is seen as a threat to the appearance of the town by some.

At a Wirral Council meeting on November 2 last year, local resident Anthony Clark said the flood wall would "ruin" the promenade, and an online petition against the plan gained more than 1,100 signatures.

However, the Strategic Applications Sub-Committee voted by five to two in favour of the 1.15km wide, 1.2 metre tall flood defence on West Kirby's promenade, with Labour, and the sole Liberal Democrat and Green councillors in favour and two Conservatives against.

At the time, Wirral Council thought the flood defence would cost just over £5.5m, with the local authority providing £2.4m for the project and just over £3.1m provided as a grant by the Environment Agency, a government body.

It is important to note that the £2.4m sum is from the authority's capital budget, which means it is not competing for funds with the day-to-day, or revenue, budget from which Wirral Council must save £20m this year, something it has proposed to do by closing Woodchurch Leisure Centre, 11 libraries, two public golf courses and more.

Since November, the official estimate for the cost of the flood defence project has risen by more than £4m to a huge £9.7m.

Yet Wirral Council said it will not be providing the additional money itself.

A spokesperson for the local authority said: "The reasons for the additional costs of the scheme are largely down to significant increases in the costs of materials and the need for the work to be completed before winter 2022 in order to minimise the impact on wildlife.

"Meeting this challenging timescale means the project is more labour and resource intensive."

The spokesperson added: "The design of the scheme has also had to be amended to address 'very poor' ground conditions identified along the promenade, which requires the use of more steel and concrete than originally estimated.

"The bulk of this additional funding is being provided through external sources and there is no requirement for further capital investment from the local authority."

Most of the money, £3.3m, will come from the government's Department For Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), according to documents prepared for tonight's meeting of the council's most senior committee, called Policy and Resources.

The document also revealed that a further £535,000 will come from the Environment Agency.

Mr Clark, speaking at the committee meeting on November 2, said the promenade was built many years ago to provide a sea view and a sense of openness and that the proposal put this under threat.

At that meeting, Cllr Simon Mountney, who represents West Kirby and Thurstaston, agreed.

On the question of whether the promenade would be changed by the flood wall, he said "too damn right it will".

Cllr Mountney added that this change would last for 100 years, the period for which the wall will sufficiently protect the town, and it would not be for the good of West Kirby.

He thought houses could be protected in a better way than the council was suggesting.

But the committee approved the proposal, with a majority believing it was needed to protect life and property in the area.

The meeting heard that over the next 100 years, 26 people were at risk of being killed under current projections if protections were not put in place, and that more than 70 properties would also be protected by a flood wall.

Most councillors on the committee were in favour of the plan, including Labour's Steve Foulkes, who criticised those against the plan for saying it will ruin West Kirby when there was no proof of this at all in his opinion.

Given the experts' opinion that the wall was needed to protect the town, Cllr Foulkes was in favour of the proposal.