BUSES will be provided next summer to take holidaymakers to other parts of Felixstowe seafront when the main beach is closed and fenced off for a £5 million sea defence project.

BUSES will be provided next summer to take holidaymakers to other parts of Felixstowe seafront when the main beach is closed and fenced off for a £5 million sea defence project.

Large sections of shore will be out of bounds for weeks as the huge project to demolish and replace 50 decaying concrete groynes takes place between the War Memorial and Landguard.

Around 2,000 cubic metres of concrete will have to be removed and granite or limestone imported by sea to build 19 new fishtail rock groynes, 110 metres apart, along the beach.

Then around 150,000 cubic metres of sand and shingle will be pumped ashore to replenish the beaches and give the new defences a good start.

When they are in place they should create ten metres of high beach at high tide - compared with the situation at present where the sea washes to the prom.

Council chiefs are recommending 24 hour working to get the scheme completed in five months - even though that will mean extra noise and disturbance for seafront families.

Suffolk Coastal councillors are being asked to approve the project on December 8.

Town councillors have voiced concern about tourism being hit - though the news might not be all bad.

“Although tourism is likely to be adversely affected there is evidence that similar schemes elsewhere have attracted additional visitors wishing to view the construction works,” said a report by planning officers.

“Because of public safety issues the beach will be progressively closed to the public for the duration of the works.

“Even once a groyne has been constructed it remains dangerous until the beach has been recharged. The recharging of the beach is the final phase of the construction project.

“To mitigate this impact, the promoters propose that public transport will be provided during the peak holiday season to transport holiday makers to the unaffected parts of the beach north of the pier.”

The prom will remain open but be narrower because of the fencing preventing access to the beach.

The defences are desperately needed and experts say without them the resort's low-lying West End is at grave risk of flooding, with hundreds of homes, businesses, seafront gardens and amusements, and even the port - Britain's biggest container terminal -at risk if the defences fail in a storm surge.

Are you worried by the work to take place next summer? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail EveningStarLetters@eveningstar.co.uk