Devon demands government cash for storm repairs

Calls for more flood defence

A push for financial support to repair a key storm-damaged road will get immediately under way with efforts to lobby Westminster for crucial funding.

Storm Ingrid left a trail of destruction in picturesque Torcross, a coastal community in the South Hams, and has left a key road there temporarily closed while repairs are carried out.

While the surface of the A379 appears to have largely avoided any damage in the Torcross area, Storm Ingrid inflicted pain in other ways.

Steel piling and concrete capping has been ripped away from the tarmac on part of the road near Torcross’s pub and homes, while further down the road towards Strete, highways officers stated it had been undermined, meaning that its foundations had been swept away by the storm, essentially leaving the tarmac floating.

Councillor Julian Brazil (Liberal Democrat, Kingsbridge), the leader of Devon County Council, said he would be immediately contacting Devon’s MPs to push for financial assistance from the government to support Devon as it recovers from the storm.

Besides the A379, clean-up work is underway elsewhere, and the conditions also forced the closure of the railway line at Dawlish, once again bringing into question the resilience of some of Devon’s key infrastructure.

“We’ll be going to the government and asking them for support, because our communities need it,” he said.

“We need to have that kind of resilience otherwise we feel a bit let down and out on a limb and we’ve got to do something about that.”

Highways officials said the cash for the repairs to Slapton Line – the name usually given to the piece of road that stretches along Slapton beach – would likely have to come out of county coffers, meaning the already put-upon highways budget could subsequently struggle to undertake repairs elsewhere.

Government financial support can sometimes be based on how much a council has already spent within a year on emergency repairs after weather-related damage. And because that is linked to a council’s turnover, a large council like Devon has to spend a lot of its own money before it gets support.

That being said, former MP Sarah Woollaston and Devon County Council secured £2.5 million from the government in 2018 to repair the key road after part of it was completely washed away.

Councillor Laurel Lawford (Liberal Democrat, Allington and Strete), a member of South Hams District Council, said the road was “important” to residents who use it every day.

She highlighted the work of the Slapton Line Partnership, which is working to ensure the road remains viable for as long as possible, albeit, as the organisation’s website states, “acknowledging that Slapton Line will soon reach the end of its life, with no viable options for long-term maintenance or relocation”.

That sentiment was echoed by Cllr Brazil.

“We know that at some point the road will get washed away but we have got to try and keep it open for as long as we can,” he said.

Rob Richards, the deputy director for highways and infrastructure at Devon County Council, said once the full scale of the damage had been assessed, then repairs could begin in earnest, although they would “take time”.

“The part of the road nearest the village where the steel piling and concrete has been compromised will need to be reconstructed,” he said.

“We will have to replace the sheet piling and take off the [damaged] concrete cap, and then rebuild it. It’s more involved from a civil engineering perspective than some of the other repair work.

“There are sections where the road has been undermined [due to its foundations being washed away] and we will have to keep traffic off those bits in the meantime.”

Mr Richards said temporary traffic measures could be put in place to help the road re-open partially, or with sections of single-file traffic governed by traffic lights.

But he acknowledged that putting any temporary street furniture in – such as cones or traffic lights – could be problematic at present given the expected continuation of storm conditions.

Cllr Brazil said Devon was experiencing “more frequent and more severe storms”, which were having a significant impact on people’s lives.

“This week our residents will experience the very real impact of decades of under‑investment in sea defences, flood alleviation schemes, and roads and rail infrastructure,” he said.

“Our council officers have done an amazing job of patching up roads, keeping them open, and supporting residents affected by flooding, but there is only so much we can do when the government continues to deliver real‑terms cuts in funding.”

Cllr Brazil said he would invite Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds to visit communities affected by the recent severe weather and discuss opportunities for better protecting them.