Photo: SCOPIX
Folkestone’s popular Mermaid Beach is facing urgent repair work after the relentless fury of Storm Goretti battered the coastline, causing severe damage to its vital sea defences.
Monster waves and howling winds violently tore through the seafront in January, dramatically displacing heavy concrete sections of the breakwater and leaving the shoreline visibly scarred.
Photo: Susan Scott
In a decisive move to protect the coast from future violent weather, local councillors have officially greenlit an emergency spend of up to £200,000 to reconstruct the shattered structure. Civic leaders are now racing against the clock, with engineers scheduled to complete the critical fortification work well before the arrival of harsh winter storms.
Funding for the emergency project will be salvaged entirely from underspends in last year’s council budget, ensuring the repairs go ahead without placing an immediate additional burden on local taxpayers.
Remarkably, despite the colossal power of the storm’s waves, Folkestone and Hythe escaped catastrophic residential flooding. Authorities credited this miraculous escape to the council’s aggressive, bi-annual shingle recycling and regrading programme, which has quietly reinforced the coastal perimeter since 2004 and ultimately saved nearby homes from devastation.
Cllr Connor McConville, Cabinet Member for Assets and Local Government Reorganisation, said:
“I could not believe the damage was caused by one single storm and, unfortunately, it was not covered by our insurance due to the nature of the weather event.
“The rock structure which protects the coast is perfectly intact, but I know we’ll all be pleased when we can use the concrete walkway again.”