Weymouth landslip: Project to stabilise clifftop approved

A project to stabilise a clifftop where 90 homes are at risk of being cut off by a landslip has been approved.

Residents had called for action after a large collapse by Old Castle Road in Weymouth, Dorset, in March 2020.

The work at the base of the cliff will also protect three new houses, which have been granted planning permission.

Dorset Council said the project may be harmful to nature but was essential. It added that the alternative of diverting the road would have cost more money.

The work will include adding gabion cages filled with stone boulders from the beachfront up the slope, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

The council has agreed to pay for part of the project, which was proposed by the site owner who plans to build the new homes.

A council report approving the plans said: "Both the site owner and Dorset Highways needed the same outcome in the form of a stable slope and both recognised the mutual benefit that could be had by working together."

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