Boulders have been ordered from quarries in Norway, Ireland and Scotland to bolster the defences for storm-battered properties in Torcross.
The huge rocks will form part of a renewed defences to help protect the homes that were damaged by storms earlier this year.
Thankfully for the villagers, the Environment Agency has said it does not need to apply for planning permission to put the boulders in place, and is allowed to do it under its existing powers.
There had been some concern that due to the various nature-related designations at Torcross, that permission might be required to put the new rocks in, something which could have elongated the process.
A marine licence from the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is still required, but the Environment Agency said it submitted this last month.
A response is expected by 16 October, and while the Agency said it could not pre-judge the MMO decision, “we have worked very hard behind the scene to optimise the chances of the licence being granted and to avoid pre-commencement conditions that might delay starting the works”.
As such, contractor Kier will take over the Tank car park from 7 September which will render it inaccessible by the public, although footpaths around it will remain open.
The first of the boulders are expected to begin arriving by 17 October, and they will be brought onto the beach at high tide by barges, and then retrieved and moved into position by plant machinery at low tide.
“The rock defence will then be built in short sections within the low tide windows starting at the southern end, working along the beach towards the northern end slipway,” the Environment Agency said.
“We anticipate it will take approximately 4-5 months to complete the main rock armour, so we will be working over the autumn and winter months, with the area around the car park and slipway then being completed in the spring.
These works do not relate to the A379 Slapton Line road, which remains closed after a huge section was washed away. Devon County Council has applied for funding from the government's Structure Fund, but no outcome has been confirmed yet.
The Environment Agency said it was considering how to keep public access to the existing defence and sea at the southern end, but that this was “proving difficult”.
It said it would provide an update if a solution was found, adding that it hoped to improve access from the slipway at the northern end to the lower beach levels.
“We have also agreed with Devon County Council and South Hams District Council to incorporate the reinstatement of the sheet piled defences in front of the car park into the project and continue to work closely with them,” the Environment Agency added.
