Footpath diversions and the temporary loss of parking will herald the start of flood defence investigation work on the Isle of Wight, in the bid to reduce flooding in Shanklin and Yaverland.

Groundworks are due to get underway from next week, with the results shaping new flood defence measures.

Five weeks of investigations will affect esplanades and beaches in the two target areas.

Contractors will be setting up from Thursday, January 12 and the work itself will start on Monday, January 16. 

What work will be carried out?

Shanklin

  • Work between Hope Road car park and Shanklin Chine  

Yaverland

  • Between Yaverland car park and Crescent Road 

Meanwhile...a wider programme of work will see the refurbishment and replacement of some coastal defences and slope stabilisation in Ventnor. 

Repair work will be carried out in Bembridge, on Embankment Road, between St Helens and Bembridge 

Specialist equipment will be used to drill boreholes and dig trenches.

Temporary fencing will be put around the sites to protect the public, which will mean some footpath diversions and parking suspensions for a short period of time.

The forthcoming work follows a consultation on the plans, carried out last summer, as the County Press previously reported.

The Shanklin and Yaverland Coastal Defence Schemes will see joining working between the Environment Agency and Isle of Wight Council, delivered by and JBA Consulting and VolkerStevin. 

Nick Gray, area flood and coastal risk manager at the Environment Agency, said: "The existing coastal defences are in poor condition.

"We want to improve them, so they continue to offer protection for local communities and ensure they withstand the increasingly extreme weather we are experiencing because of climate change.

"The ground investigation work is an important step in assessing the best options to protect Shanklin and Yaverland from coastal erosion and flooding in the future.

"While the work is happening, we will keep any disruption to the local community to a minimum."

Isle of Wight Council's Jonathan Bacon, cabinet member for the environment, said: "It is really encouraging to see that the Environment Agency is beginning the process of ground investigations in Shanklin and Yaverland.

"Recent damage to the defences in Ventnor has illustrated the potential implications of deterioration of our sea defences.

"It is important that we progress this work as quickly as possible."