Row over Alverstoke's sea defences sees accusations of scoring 'cheap political points'

In her column of the printed edition of The News, Gosport’s Conservative MP Caroline Dinenage said work was cancelled by Gosport Borough Council and it is its responsibility to sort. But the leader of the Liberal Democrat-run council Councillor Peter Chegwyn said the work is suspended and the responsibility lies with the previous Conservative council, the government and the Environment Agency.

Councillor Chegwyn (Lib Dem, Forton) said he wanted to set the record straight in a meeting on May 15, after claiming Ms Dinenage made a false statement about the Alverstoke sea defences being cancelled and it was the Lib Dems’ problem to fix.

He said: “She was wrong on both counts. It’s never been cancelled, it’s been suspended. It was suspended when the Conservatives ran the council before the Liberal Democrats took over. It was suspended pending a resolution with a practical problem with cable but more importantly, needing an OK from the government for another £800,000 from the Environment Agency.”

Cllr Chegwyn said: “She should check her facts first before trying to score cheap political points. It was disappointing, maybe even irresponsible for the MP to cause great distress to the residents when so much flooding had happened to Alverstoke recently.”

In early May, Storm Pierrick brought flooding chaos to Alverstoke when 50 homes in Alverstoke village were evacuated as a tidal river burst its banks in the early hours of the morning leaving the residents homeless and devastated.

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Ms Dinenage said Gosport Borough Council should prioritise sea defences now the local elections had finished and criticised them for spending £50,000 on a feasibility study for a building the council are developing, The Criterion.

She said in her column, she would be meeting with the Environment Agency and minister to do her bit, and put focus on the issue but the ultimate responsibility was with Gosport Borough Council to secure funding for its project.

But Cllr Chegwyn argued it was up to Ms Dinenage to help secure that funding from the Environment Agency – not the council. He said that the agency had not responded to any of the letters he had written and said the Gosport MP should check her facts before giving false information and should do her job by chasing up the letters with the Environment Agency and helping secure funding.

Cllr Chegwyn paraphrased from a statement made by Andrew Pierce, from Coastal Partners – a group of councils working together on coastal management – which verified the key dates of the project. He said construction work on the Alverstoke flood defences was approved in February 2021, while the Conservatives were running the council, and work started on site a year later. But it then stopped in April 2022 when underground cabling was exposed while clearing the causeway wall for strengthening to begin.At this point, there was not enough funding to deal with the cables. After the Liberal Democrats took over the council in May 2022, the chief executive wrote to the Environment Agency on May 17 asking for extra funding and was told “no further funding was available”, according to Cllr Chegwyn. He said the project has remained ‘on pause’ – not cancelled – while alternative funding is explored.

An Environment Agency spokesman said: “We have supported Gosport Borough Council and Coastal Partners on the Alverstoke and Forton schemes for a number of years, including securing central government funding for the projects.

“Unfortunately, as the costs have escalated, there is now a need to secure sources of funding and we continue to work in partnership with the council in doing this.”

The Alverstoke and Forton flood defence schemes would reduce flood risk to 341 properties over the next 50 years from a one-in-100-year event.