NEGOTIATIONS are still taking place to complete the “missing link” in Felixstowe's prom - but hopes are high that a successful solution can be found.

NEGOTIATIONS are still taking place to complete the “missing link” in Felixstowe's prom - but hopes are high that a successful solution can be found.

New multi-million pound sea defences will include a new walkway round Cobbold's Point but at the moment it is set to finish at Jacob's Ladder.

That would still leave a short section below Golf Road and Brackenbury where it would be difficult to get along the shore and people with disabilities would find it impossible.

Dr Rosalind Turner, of consultants Mott MacDonald, designers of the coast protection project, said no solution had been found yet to the missing link but negotiations were still ongoing and the situation was hopeful.

She said: “It's still very much in the pipeline.”

The government wants access around the whole of the UK coastline and the walkway is part of Felixstowe's plans for a complete five-mile coastal path from Felixstowe Ferry to Landguard.

The defences from the Town Hall to Jacob's Ladder will involve of a series of straight rock groynes and rock wall to halt the beach erosion and protect the area for the next 100 years.

Work could start in spring 2011 if finance is available.

Suffolk Coastal cabinet member Andy Smith said: “We have taken into account comments made by local people, councillors, Felixstowe Town Council, the Environment Agency and other organisations in deciding what kind of coast defences would best protect the homes, businesses and recreation facilities along this stretch of the coast.

“The next stage of the project will be to refine it and identify its cost, before submitting it to the Environment Agency.”

Are you in favour of extending the prom? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk