West Shore Issues

[mull]

It has nothing to do with sea level. that varies with the tides, high.low sping or neap.
If you build the height of the sand up to the same level as the top of the steps it is obvious that when it is not covered by water it will blow over the wall , lake ,grass and then the road .
Something has to be done about it but how it will be funded is another matter.
The scheme to build the breakwaters was thought up around 1980.
Does anyone remember whose idea it was and are they still in business ?
 If so would they like to come backand put things right ?

[mull]

Anyone got photos of the West Shore sandhills after this mornings stormy weather ?

 

[Hugo]

I drove down Abbey Road to the West Shore this afternoon and met the first sandstorm just before I reached St David's Hospice.    It's the worst I've seen the sand and I didn't bother to get out of the car to take these photos.
Something drastic needs to be done as the drains are getting blocked with the sand and the situation is getting worse. There's no point in a sand clearing operation yet either as the Winter storms have only just started and there's more sand to come.
Now if anyone has any doubts about the original height levels around the White Rabbit statue or the damage caused by the idiots who who were consulted and built the latest sea defence then please look at the third picture carefully.

[DaveR]

Things do seem to be getting a bit out of hand with the sand! 

[mull]

Hugo
Thanks for posting the photos.
You are right, something must be done.
At the time the breakwaters were proposed my Mum and Dad lived at the West Shore end of town. I remember him forecasting that they building up trouble for the future.
For sure it will only get worse.
How about buying a few camels. Could go well with visitors .........money to be made.
Do you need a licence from the council to operate camel rides.
An application for one might draw the councils attention that there is a  problem.

[Fester]

I couldn't resist taking a look at West Shore this lunchtime.
The sand situation is now completely out of control.

I wanted to watch the stormy sea roll in against the shore, but I couldn't get out of the car because each time I tried I got my face sandblasted.

Now, you can basically walk up a sand dune, and straight over a buried sea wall!

[emma p]

these pictures are shocking......i would imagine the residents of the west shore are well chuffed off. Not good at all. 

[Hugo]

Mull, your Dad was spot on and if the powers that be had consulted the locals and not the consultants then this situation would never have arisen.
When I was a teenager I spent many hours swimming from the steps on the shore, mainly from those by the Toll Gate and there was never a problem in that area. The sea at high tide lapped the bottom of the series of steps but not once in my memory did it come over the wall.
I have a vague memory of Llandudno U D C saying that the steps were being undermined and I think that the Council went with the cheapest option. That info should be available now under the Freedom of Information Act.
Again if my memory serves me right then these very same consultants came up with a proposal for the North Shore and it was that a breakwater be built like in Rhos on Sea only that in this case the suggested breakwater would cover most of the bay. Thankfully that never happened but they did spoil the steps on the North Shore by putting rocks on them instead.

[TheMedz]

Fester I think we are missing a trick. Face Sandblasting. The number of faces( mine up amongst the top of them) that could benefit with that beauty therapy. We could make millions.

[DaveR]

If you look at the metal lamp posts on the Prom at West Shore, the seaward sides have lost all their paint due to the sand blasting.

[dwsi]

Conwy County Borough Council : Deganwy and West Shore http://bit.ly/wNcd1f


At Llandudno West Shore, the low levels and highly developed nature of the hinterland make this one of the key sections of shoreline in the County for coastal defence.  The first, minor, works took place in 1905 and were breached on many occasions as the town developed, eventually requiring major remedial works in 1936.  In the 1950's a stepped concrete revetment with wave return wall and sheet piled steel toe was constructed.

However beach levels continued to fall and exposure conditions increased, requiring major coastal defence works in 1992 consisting of three shore-connected rock breakwaters and cobble beach nourishment.  The upper beach - with movement restricted by the breakwaters - is now effectively providing primary coastal defence across the West Shore frontage.

[dwsi]

if you look at google maps' satellite view, it looks like the design of the north breakwater is to blame for the sandblasting http://g.co/maps/d9b8q

[Hugo]

That may be partly true Dwsi, but it's the artificially increased height of the beach that is causing the problem. It acts as a ramp and sends any drifting sand up in the air and the sand is then carried onto the Promenade.
That plus the fact that they cannot put the sand back on the beach below the high water mark has the effect of increasing that height even further.
If you look at some parts of this sea defence they are nearly to the height of the wall and that's got to be wrong.
There is another problem area where the other groyne is (near the new Anwyl Apartments) and I was talking to the owner of the nursing home that was previously  on that spot and he had to shift 10 ton of sand from his front garden and even had about 2 inches of sand in the attic above the bedroom ceilings!

[Nemesis]

Gradually the sand is travelling towards the North Shore, particularly after a day like yesterday, Our house windows on the west side of each bay are forever having to be hosed, same with the car. If not we can't see out, also it is no good dealing with the matter with a bucket and cloth as the nature of the sand is very abrasive.

[DaveR]

It would seem that the breakwater is raising the height of the beach a little too effectively!