Proposals to raise the height of the seafront wall in Laxey are on hold for the time being.

Residents feared the proposal to increase the height of the wall to 1.2 metres would spoil the outlook on the picturesque promenade but do nothing to alleviate the more serious land drainage problem that has caused serious flooding in the Glen Road area.

A spokesman for the village’s local authority, Garff Commissioners, said work originally planned to start of the scheme in October would not now happen and the Department of Infrastructure came back with fresh proposals in due course. However, it did not mean the plan to raise the wall was abandoned.

’We were told that if there was overwhelming opposition to the wall from the public and the commissioners, the plan would be dropped,’ he said.

’But the commissioners are still listening to people’s views and they have not yet formed a view on the matter.’

Villagers expressed opposition to the proposal when plans were first put on public display for one afternoon last month.

A petition that was planned against the proposal has now been put on hold until the revised plans are revealed.

The original proposal sparked huge opposition.

Julie Pinson, who operates the Laxey beach cafe, said a wall was not the answer.

She said: ’A combination of beach management, river maintenance and altering the rake of the promenade road to allow water to flow back towards the sea would be more appropriate.

’If a higher wall is needed I would suggest it be built on the other side of the road, along the green, in-line with the cafe and that temporary barriers be used at road openings.

’The only time in nine years of operating the beach cafe that I have ever experienced flood water entering my premises was when I didn’t put the floodboards up in front of the cafe and storeroom doors. During the worst of the flooding, I had boards across the doors of both the storeroom and cafe, both stayed dry.’

She said the sea wall proposal would not only lose a popular amenity in Laxey, but would be a costly white elephant that did not address the problem.

’I consider the present wall to be one of the amenities of the beach. It’s well used as additional seating. You can face the benches and talk to people, or sit and watch the sea. In good weather the wall is full of people, interacting with other and therefore a community asset. This facility would be lost.

’Old people, the disabled or the less active often sit in their cars enjoying the view. When the weather is cold the prom is lined with cars, where people are just watching the sea, too cold to sit on a bench,’ she added.

Mrs Pinson was keen to point out as a Laxey ward, Garff commissioner, she has declared an interest and her personal views are not necessarily representative of Garff commissioners.

Another Laxey seafront resident, wrote to the DoI saying as a householder living so close to the water, he considers he has a responsibility to take measures of his own which, in his case, had involved installing a water door at his house.

’I think that people living in such circumstances have a responsibility to take such precautions as they can,’ he said.

’However, the proposal for a new high defence wall along the promenade would not prevent wave overtopping when the sea is particularly high, and the visual sacrifice in what is a conservation area and a major tourist asset, not just for Laxey, but for the Isle of Man tourist industry would not be justified by any results that a new promenade wall could achieve.’

He suggested more consideration be given to areas where other methods had been used to combat flooding.

’The tidal defence scheme on the southern side of the Teign estuary in South Devon is a possible example. There are a wide variety of devices now in use to protect properties and seal off roads, and I would argue that they offer better value for money than the wall that is proposed.’

Garff MHK Martyn Perkins has suggested the DoI and Manx Utilities now need to work together and consider other ways of addressing the flooding problem.

’There is the Laxey sewage works due to be built, which could further complicate matters so it is vitally important they talk to each other,’ he said.