Flooding fears over major Skegness expansion

The government may be asked to block a large expansion of Skegness.

Planning permission was granted last week for the Skegness Gateway development which includes 1,000 new homes.

However, the Environment Agency told the BBC is it "still considering" whether to ask for permission to be revoked after it objected to the plans because of a risk of flooding.

A spokesperson for Skegness Gateway told the BBC "there is no risk of flooding".

The development would be on 336 acres (135 hectares) of land to the west of Skegness.

As well as housing, the plans include a school, shops, industrial space, tourism facilities, a technical college and a crematorium.

The Environment Agency had urged East Lindsey District Council to remove housing from the scheme, saying the site had the potential for widespread flooding with depths of up to three metres.

It said evacuating the site in the event of a breach of coastal flood defences would place a major burden on emergency services and the road network.

"We do not consider this to be a minor matter," it said in a letter to the council dated 10 January 2024.

It said the council "should be certain" the site could be evacuated, adding: "We do not consider that the evidence available demonstrates this is the case."

The agency could ask the government to revoke planning permission and told the BBC it is "still considering" its next step.

Skegness has a higher than average proportion of people over the age of 65 and has traditionally relied on tourism as its major industry.

Neil Sanderson, one of the landowners and a spokesperson for the Gateway project, said it "will deliver employment benefits of £287 million".

"The same with a lot of coastal communities we have that deprivation, health issues, lack of jobs and homes," he said.

On the risk of flooding, he said: "We've worked really closely with the Envrionment Agency from the outset to come up with a scheme that proves that flood risk mitigation, so there is no risk of flooding."

In 2022, Minister of State for Housing Michael Gove blocked attempts by East Lindsey District Council to allow caravan owners to occupy them all year round, because of a risk of flooding.

Planning portfolio holder, Councillor Tom Ashton, said the new housing in the Gateway scheme would be on "raised housing level".

Regarding evacuating the site, he said: "We are talking about an event where this development is sitting on its island and the rest of Skegness is under several feet of water."

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