Claims that Bournemouth surf reef could be dismantled were yesterday ruled out by Bournemouth council’s executive director Tony Williams.
Following a meeting at the Town Hall to discuss ASR’s new proposals to rectify the reef’s faults, Mr Williams announced that a group had been formed to develop a technical solution to the reef’s performance.
He stressed that this would involve working with proposals by New Zealand-based contractor ASR to enhance its performance.
Leisure services director Roger Brown said panel members had also ruled out deconstruction, agreeing instead to focus their efforts on seeking “a solution that will deliver a more surfable wave”.
Earlier this year the council released results of the reef’s first monitoring exercise which showed that the controversial project was failing to meet four out of its 11 objectives.
The council is withholding a £150,000 performance-based payment to ASR until the reef is rectified with work expected to get under way next April or May.
Panel members Cllrs Basil Ratcliffe, Roger West, Ben Grower and Michael Everingham will liaise with the Boscombe Spa Village project board as well as surfing and business representatives before making their recommendations this autumn.
This month, construction begins on the £1.4m artificial surf reef in Bournemouth. It is expected to attract up to 10,000 surfers a year. But how do you go about constructing an artificial surf reef?
Read the full story, with video, on the BBC News website.
A leading councillor is demanding to know exactly how Bournemouth’s surf reef has been allowed to double in price. The Boscombe reef, which will now cost £2.6m rather than the original £1.359m price, is set to be the subject of a council scrutiny panel.
Labour group leader Cllr Ben Grower has requested the item be placed on the agenda of the Children and Families’ Services scrutiny panel in a bid to find out the exact circumstances surrounding the increase.
For more information, read today’s article in the Bournemouth Echo
Article Reproduced with Permission.
