Clevedon Marine Lake drained for sea wall repairs

CLEVEDON'S Marine Lake is to be drained to allow a special survey on the condition of the sea wall to get underway.

North Somerset Council will be draining the lake from Sunday to Monday, March 3-11, to carry out a detailed marine engineering assessment of the sea wall, which has been leaking.

The work is part of a successful bid that the council, along with Clevedon Town Council, Marine Lake Enthusiasts Society (MARLENS) and Clevedon Civic Society, made to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) last year to help fund repairs to the leaking sea wall. 

The first round application gave the council a £40,000 grant to carry out detailed evaluation of the wall and to develop a comprehensive business plan for the project. 

A grant of £350,000 will be sought from the HLF at the next stage of the funding process. 

This will be used to carry out the repairs to the sea wall and to develop educational activities to help people understand the history of this beautiful location. 

The assessment work can only be carried out by draining the lake and MARLENs will also be taking advantage of this to carry out other essential maintenance work including dredging the lake and removing litter. 

North Somerset Council executive member responsible for parks and open spaces Peter Bryant said: "We are delighted to have been successful in this lottery application. 

"Clevedon sea front is a fantastic beauty spot and the Marine Lake is a really important part of the landscape. 

"We apologise for the inconvenience that draining the lake might cause but it is essential focus to carry out a detailed survey of the wall, which is impossible when the lake is full."

MARLENS chairman Joe Norman said:"MARLENS is happy to be able to contribute to the cost of cleaning out the Marine Lake to improve it for users throughout the summer." 

The lake is expected to refill with the tides between Monday and Wednesday, March 11-13, although this is dependant on the weather conditions and tidal height.