Part of a privately-funded Burnham-On-Sea sea defence scheme built by a group of residents may have to be taken down because of a wrangle over planning permission.
The defences at The Colony off Berrow Road, pictured here, consist of rock boulders and had been there for some time before planners at the district council told residents they needed planning permission.
But now, district council planning officers have refused their application because they believe the defences affect the character of the landscape.
Sedgemoor’s Development Control Manager, Christine Miles, said the sea defences “severely harm the landscape character and scenic quality of the locality and fail to respect the natural beauty of the coast.”
She claimed that the scheme “sets an undesirable precedent for further encroachment and removal of the beach areas.”
The application has been referred to the development control manager who is now considering what to ask the residents to do.
