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Knipe Point Investigations
Scarborough
Borough Council is pleased to announce that ground investigations
will be commencing on site at Knipe Point, near Cayton Bay, on 20
October 2008.
The investigations will be
undertaken on private land in the ownership of The National Trust,
Knipe Point Freeholders Limited and North Yorkshire County Council
and will entail the creation of six boreholes of up to 100 metres
in depth and the insertion of standpipe piezometers and slip rod
sensors into the boreholes to obtain data to help analyse and
interpret the causes of landslide activity. The data obtained
will then be used to produce a landslide stability analysis and
conceptual design of possible stabilisation measures.
Although the council is not
one of the affected landowners, it is using its permissive powers
under the Coast Protection Act, and 'well-being' powers to attempt
to resolve the situation. The council has therefore
commissioned the investigations using grant aid obtained from the
Environment Agency.
The works will be undertaken
by the Soil Engineering Division of specialist ground investigation
contractor Norwest Holst Limited, and will be supervised by
specialist geotechnical consultant Halcrow Group Ltd.
The investigations on site
will last for approximately six weeks, followed by a further four
weeks for laboratory testing of the samples obtained, and
collection of monitoring data from the equipment installed on
site. Analysis of this data will take a further seven weeks
with completion of the study anticipated around March 2009.
Cllr Andrew Backhouse,
Scarborough Borough Council’s Portfolio Holder for Technical
Services, Environment, Projects Management and Coastal and Flood
Defences said:
“I am delighted that this
study is finally underway, and while residents may be concerned
that it has taken six months since the landslides first occurred in
April 2008, in fact this is a very short period of time when you
consider the tasks officers have had to complete, including
applying for grant aid from the Environment Agency to fund the
works, complying with procurement and contract rules for the
commissioning of the specialists and contractors, and the
complications of having to enter into separate legal agreements
with three different landowners.
“In addition the land owned
by the National Trust is a Site of Special Scientific Interest
(SSSI), and therefore the consent of Natural England was also
required.
“As the land on which we are
carrying out the investigations is not in the ownership of the
council we had to ensure that we acted correctly, and legally at
all times. Drilling boreholes into an active landslide is a
high risk activity and it has been essential that officers ensure
the works are well planned, correctly specified and procured, and
that the correct legal permissions are in place from all third
parties to ensure the protection of the council from what is a high
risk activity that we are undertaking voluntarily in order to
provide assistance.”
Upon completion of the
study, it will be sent to the Environment Agency (the Government
agency with overall strategic responsibility for coastal
management) with an application for further funding.
However at this stage there
is no guarantee that further monies can be obtained to find a
permanent solution to the problem. This will be dependent
upon the outcome of and recommendations from the study and whether
such recommendations are in line with criteria set down by the
Environment Agency to obtain further grant aid.
A management committee has
been formed and is comprised of interested parties together with
representatives of residents from Knipe Point and Filey Road.
Regular progress updates will be issued to this group who have
undertaken to disseminate the information to their respective
organisations.