New Forest District Council to start removal of 31 beach huts from Hordle Cliff in Milford

DOZENS of storm-damaged beach huts are set to be removed at Milford as part of a huge operation beginning on Monday.

The work, set to be completed by the end of June, weather-permitting, by New Forest District Council, will see the removal of 31 damaged and at-risk structures at Hordle Cliff.

As reported, the beach huts in the eastern section of Hordle Cliff were badly damaged in a series of winter storms including Storm Eunice in February 2022 and Storm Ciaran in November 2023.

Extraordinarily high levels of rainfall last winter compounded the problems, leading to beach erosion and ground movement. This winter has been one of the stormiest on record with February 2024 the wettest for Solent and South Downs since 1891, the area receiving 300% of the normal rainfall.

The beach hut removal will start on 10th June and will use “land-based machinery”. A previous plan to remove the huts using cranes has now been scrapped.

NFDC coastal service manager Steve Cook said “We have actively engaged with hut owners and the New Forest Beach Hut Owners Association, and have every sympathy with those who have experienced impacts at this very challenging coastal area.

“The removal of the huts is a challenging operation, made more difficult by the limited beach access and tidal working. We hope to complete the works before the end of June and reopen the beach for residents and visitors to enjoy in the summer months.”

“We advise anyone considering buying a beach hut or other asset on, or close to, the coast to consider the risk before purchasing. People are welcome to contact our coastal team to understand the risks.”

Paddy’s Gap car park will remain open, but access to the beach from near the car park will be restricted while the work is undertaken.

Speaking at a recent Milford Parish Council meeting Cllr Anne Cullen said: “Milford has been hit by three significant storms since the new year, and the last one has really caused a lot of damage to the beach huts and the beach. The tidal surge from a Spring Tide of 900mm was the second highest ever recorded at Lymington.

“So we have two of those and then we had the third one – which really was the final straw which broke the camel’s back.”

She continued: “We have around 30 huts being removed – around 25 of these have been destroyed and the remaining five or so the owners have contacted NFDC and asked them to take them away.

“Prior to the launch of the removal operation, five truckloads of debris and pollution have already been taken from the beach by the NFDC coastal team.”

The meeting heard that the original plan was to use a crane at the cliff top and lift the huts away but this option was ruled out because the cliff was deemed to be too unstable to take the weight of the machinery. Cllr Cullen revealed: “The new plan is to take the huts up on trucks entering the beach at Paddy’s Gap car park.”

Work was delayed because NFDC needed to apply for permission to carry out the operation from the MMO and Natural England because the site is a SSSI designation.

There are currently around 300 beach huts at the Hordle Cliff site, and huts that have licences terminated cannot be relocated because there are no available plots.

Where beach hut sites are no longer viable to site a beach hut, then the hut cannot be rebuilt. This being on the basis that either the site is no longer there or is deemed unsafe due to beach erosion and ground instability.

NFDC has confirmed that the cost of the removal operation is funded by the income it receives from beach hut licences and that the work will be weather dependant, because heavy machinery can only access the slopes leading down to the beach when the cliffs have sufficiently dried out.

Owners pay an annual licence fee to NFDC of between £662 and £956 for their hut at Hordle Cliff, but are responsible for all repairs and maintenance.

NFDC does not have a statutory duty to undertake and deliver flood and coastal erosion risk management measures at any coastal site and as there are no defences at Hordle Cliff, the authority has not undertaken any flood and coastal erosion risk management activities in that section of the coastline.

The A&T understands a large majority of NFDC’s annual coastal budget is invested in work at Milford.

A spokesperson for NFDC said: “The council undertakes maintenance works to coastal assets across a number of sites, generally this is focused at Calshot, Hurst Spit, Milford-on-Sea and Barton-on-Sea.

“The budget expenditure varies across the sites depending on need and risk. Typically Milford-on-Sea does receive a higher spend due to the significantly increased risk to storm impacts and the aging defences.”