LYME REGIS: Plans to charge chalet owners £4,000 as part of work to shore up cliffs at Monmouth Beach have been defended by the town council.

At an extraordinary council meeting behind closed doors, councillors agreed to the charge in order to pay for the work on the fragile cliffs within three years.

The authority is still in the process of agreeing permission with West Dorset District Council to relocate 11 chalets further away from the cliffs at Monmouth Beach.

Deputy mayor, Cllr Anita Williams said: “The charge will be £4,000 for the 11 chalet owners.

“We believe that this will reflect the significant improvements to the area that will be carried out.

“We have made the decision to ask this because the payment schedule needs to be wrapped up inside three years, as was agreed by councillors last year.”

Councillors agreed a confidential contract for the work – which will be carried out in three phases by Bridport company Hansford Construction Ltd.

Material will first need to be removed from the top of Ware Cliff following a historic landslip.

The material will need to be moved to the beach slip, meaning the access road will have to be re-routed at a cost of £43,000, including infrastructure work.

“That will have the effect of restricting the access road and essentially block it,” added Cllr Williams.

“We need to have an access road in order to get permission from planners.

“The third phase is to shore up a retaining wall between a block of garages and the harbourmaster store, next to the Boat Building Acade-my.

“The wall cracked two years ago, so it is potentially compromised.

“We need to reinstate that in order to protect chalets and the harbourmaster hut.”

Any chalets where licences are not taken up will be offered to those on the waiting list.

Councillors also agreed that chalet owners should be charged for a parking permit, irrespective of whether owners use an allocated parking space – thought to be around £350 per year.

Anyone offered a chalet licence must pay the £4,000 fee within three months or when the relocated site is available.

The council has also reassured the public that there has been no recent landslip at Monmouth Beach, despite speculation on social media.

District and county councillor Daryl Turner voiced his concerns on Twitter over cliff movement – but town clerk John Wright, pictured left, said there is no reason to believe a fresh landslip has taken place.

“Like much of the surrounding coastline, the Monmouth Beach and Ware Cliff area is an unpredictable site and landslips can occur at any time” he said.

“Since the major slip in winter 2012/13, we have actively monitored the area using ground markers and this is something we take very seriously given the sensitivity and value of the area.

“As you would expect, the land is constantly moving as a result of seasonal variations.

“However, regular inspections are carried out and we are not aware of any significant movement recently. The planned landslip reduction works will help to protect the caravans, chalets and day huts in the area by reducing the risk of movement occurring in future.”