A holiday park owner was forced to pay £300,000 for a sea wall to protect his cliffside restaurant after the council refused to fund it.
Rob Braddick, owner of the Pier View and Braddick Holiday Park in Westward Ho!, North Devon, was forced to act after watching the cliffs around his business crumbling into the sea.
He hoped the council would contribute towards the vital protection, given a public footpath ran along the front of the restaurant.
The arcade below had already been flooded by seawater, and Mr Braddick, 54, said there was a serious risk of further damage in the next few years.
Alarm bells began ringing two years ago, when a large chunk of the carpark was washed away.
He said: ‘It just made me sit up and think this is gong to be interesting. If we lost a bit more it would become extremely hard to repair the first bit.
‘I took a deep breath and grasped the nettle to start the process of repairing and putting a new wall in so we could be protected.’
The restaurant has stood on the cliff edge since 1947, and Mr Braddick is the fifth generation of his family to run it.
Now halfway through the enormous project, the businessman said: ‘The hospitality sector is struggling a lot at the moment and it is not the best time to be chucking money over a cliff edge.
‘But it’s erosion of the car park which will eventually be the erosion of the restaurant and bar.
‘Ideally it would not be my responsibility to build sea defences but as we own the land we are trying to protect we just have to get on with it.’
Rob said it took him two years to get planning permission from the authorities and approval from the likes of Torridge District Council, Natural England and the Environment Agency.
After it was finally approved, Mr Braddick said he decided to do a ‘Rolls-Royce job’, to protect the shoreline for years to come.
He said: ‘The concrete is pre-cast and looks like a stone wall from a distance. There are 57 of them made and they cost around £1200 each.
‘We had them painted buffalo brown so when they sit against the cliff it almost blends in with the natural cliff.
‘There were a lot of loops to jump through but everyone was really good and realised it was going to be an issue if we didn’t do anything.’
Pre-fabricated concrete blocks are transported on a crane down onto a platform and each one is drilled four metres into the rock before being interlinked together. It is expected to be completed in around eight weeks.
Mr Braddick added: ‘I think in the next five years we might have been in trouble. If we did lose the car park there would be nothing to work from to repair it.
‘We just needed to do it sooner rather than later. This should guarantee it for the next 100 years. Hopefully my kids will take it on and we are protecting it for the next generation.’
Parts of the cliff near his business have already been severely eroded, and in 2014, tonnes of seawater flooded the amusement arcade beneath the bar and restaurant.
After another flooding incident, Mr Braddick said he knew that he had to act.
He had been planning the 187ft flood defence for years, and was able to start the work at Christmas.
He owns several other bars and restaurants in the town, including The Fairway Buoy, Crabby Dicks, The Waterfront Inn, and Seafield House – a 19th Century building overlooking the sea on the coast path.
The hospitality boss also took over the lease of the Seafield car park from Torridge District Council 10 years ago and made it free for people to use.
Rob added: ‘One day I’ll be able to stand here and know that we protected it for the next generation – and that will be worth the money.’
A spokesman from Torridge district council said: ‘Torridge district council are not involved in any defence schemes on private land in Westward Ho!
‘The council have been working with our partner agencies on the main linear defence scheme for the centre of Westward Ho!, a significant investment required to protect this public part of the village.’
The Environment Agency and Natural England have been contacted for comment.
