Urgent drainage issues with the Folkestone Step Short Arch construction

There seems to be more trouble for the Step Short Arch project. During construction works on site, BIG problems have been discovered with drains that the project was planning to use, with water from those drains not passing down the drains as expected by instead leaking out of the cliff face below the Leas.

Wash-out from broken drains in Sandgate Road over recent years has seen the road collapse there, and there are real concerns that if not tackled this could occur in the Leas.

I'm told that urgent repair or even replacement of the drains is needed/ That is (of course) outside the Arch budget - so who will pick up the tab?

Email sent to David Monk, Leader of Shepway District Council this afternoon (April 10th).

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Dear David,

I have been made aware that there are significant drainage issues on the Leas that have been discovered and potentially made worse by the construction of the Step Short Arch.

Surface water from drains by the Arch site is leaking out through a crack in the cliff face. This is clearly a real concern for environmental and structural reasons: if there has been significant "wash out" there could even be potential for collapse on the Leas.

I also understand that there is going to be a significant cost to repair or replace the faulty drains, and that this cost was not within the Arch budget.

Can you confirm the extent of the drainage problem associated with the building of the Arch, the estimated cost of replacement or repair, how much of the cost of that repair will be met by Shepway District Council, and what process will be used by the Council to agree any additional expenditure?

Yours,

Tim Prater

CC. Alistair Stewart, Lynne Beaumont