UK - Suffolk coastal erosion forces demolition of Pakefield chalets
The last three remaining chalets on a coastal cliff top are to be demolished. One chalet at the site in Pakefield, near Lowestoft in Suffolk, was demolished in February 2022.
Two-thousand tonnes of rocks were placed on the beach to try to stop further erosion.
Coastal Partnership East says the remaining properties are in "danger of being structurally undermined by shoreline degradation" and will be taken down on 18 and 19 November.
The body, which represents Great Yarmouth Borough Council, North Norfolk District Council and East Suffolk Council, said it had inspected the Pakefield site ahead of Storm Babet.
In a letter to residents, it said the chalets had become unsafe and would be demolished next weekend, subject to weather conditions.
The letter also said that the buildings did not provide any protection to surrounding properties, so their removal would not increase the risk to other homes.
Owners were warned by East Suffolk Council as long ago as 2019 that more extreme winter weather was expected and this could have had an effect on the stability of the cliff.
The council told residents it was putting emergency measures in place to "buy some time", but people living in the properties were asked to consider demolition.
Part of the cliff close to the nearby Pontins holiday village collapsed in August 2022.
