A NIGHTMARE scenario of properties being lost and Coverack effectively being cut in two has prompted St Keverne Parish Council to take swift action.

The prospect of coastal erosion around The Lizard is contained in a shoreline management plan being drawn up for government agencies and Cornwall Council.

Among other things it also suggests there could be flooding if Loe Bar, which currently separates the sea from Helston – parts of which are below sea level – is breached.

Worried residents of Coverack, which is covered by the St Keverne council, attended its meeting on Thursday.

At risk

One, Trevor Abraham, who has lived in the village for 22 years, said this was the first he had heard of the plan.

What worried him and others is the prospect that more than 20 homes, the main road through the village and the listed quay are at risk in the coming years.

"This could cut the village in half," he said.

Cllr Bill Frisken said: "We clearly have a problem at Coverack because the report in essence says that the present sea wall will only be maintained for the next 15 years."

The parish council wants the report, in draft form, to be changed before it is put to funding agencies such as Cornwall Council.

Cllr Frisken told the West Briton there was real concern from residents over matters such as the effect on house insurance.

"We feel, at this stage, we would like the council to hold the line (continue maintenance on the sea wall) until at least 2055."

Mr Frisken pointed out that a large hole had opened up in recent years in the sea wall, yet the nearby harbour, which took a much heavier pounding from the sea, had been well maintained by local fishermen. "This quay has, with careful maintenance, withstood the onslaught of the sea for the last 300 years."

The parish council was suggesting a local person be engaged part time to point the sea wall, as they did the harbour, as "a stitch in time" operation.

Otherwise, he added: "The loss of the road sometime after 2025 (only 15 years from now) would have severe financial consequences", not least, Cllr Frisken also said, because nearly 70 more properties would no longer have road access unless a new one was built "at enormous cost".

The full Shoreline Management Plan, drawn up by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Coastal Advisory Group, can be found at www.ciscag.org/draftsmpindex.html