Purpose

Following the closure of
Chalkwell Ramp in March 2025 on public
safety grounds, the Council is committed to demolishing the current
structure and replacing it with a temporary structure to return
access from the station/highway to the beach for all
users.

Content

The Cabinet considered a report
of the Executive Director (Environment and Place) concerning the
closure of Chalkwell Ramp in March 2025
on public safety grounds and the proposal to demolish the current
structure and replace with a temporary structure to return access
from the station/highway to the beach for all users.  This would enable the Council to work longer term
on a permanent replacement structure, without removing further
access.
 
Resolved:
 
1. That a contract be directly
awarded to c2c’s current Chalkwell station AFA works contractor, Octavius
Infrastructure Limited, in order to undertake works including the
demolition of the current structure and installation of a temporary
access ramp.
 
2. That, in awarding the
contract, it be acknowledged that the decision is being taken as an
urgent decision outside of the budget framework in accordance with
Part 2, Section 5 of the Constitution for the reasons set out in
the submitted report and that a report to Council on the addition
of £0.766M to the 2025/26 capital investment programme funded
by borrowing for the demolition of Chalkwell Ramp and its replacement with a temporary
access structure.
 
3. That authority be delegated
to the Executive Director (Environment and Place), in consultation
with the Leader of the Council, to finalise the contract
terms.
 
4. That it be noted that, in
accordance with Part 5, Section 4 (Call-in and Urgency) of the
Council’s Constitution, the call-in provisions shall not
apply as the decision being taken is urgent for the reasons set out
in the report.
 
Reasons for
decisions:
 
1. The decision is being taken
urgently as any delay likely to be caused would seriously prejudice
the Council’s position in terms of being able to deliver the
required works and not being subject to additional costs. In
addition any delay would result in the Council not being able to
return access to a public footpath in the required timescales. It
has not been practical to convene a quorate meeting of the Council
within the requirements of the Access to Information Procedure
Rules due to the restricted timescales required in this case and
reasons detailed in the report.  The
Chair of Place Scrutiny has been consulted and is in agreement that
the decision is urgent and advice has been sought from the Chief
Finance Officer and Monitoring Officer.
 
2. The key reason for the
recommendations is due to the availability of suitable Network Rail
track possessions (a 52 hour weekend). There are only two suitable
track possessions remaining in 2025 (both in September).
 
3. The availability of the
current c2c contractor undertaking adjacent works means that the
track possession required is already in place and has been
approved. This enables works to be undertaken more swiftly ensuring
the demolition and removal of the existing unsafe structure and the
erection of a temporary solution to reinstate the ramped
access.
 
4. Not proceeding as
recommended, would require future track possessions to be secured
with Network Rail, with no clarity as to when such possessions
would be available. This would result in significant delays with
the work unlikely to be carried out until later in 2026 at the
earliest.
 
5. If the September track
possession was not utilised the Council would be required to make
its own track possession request, incurring additional costs from
Network Rail. Due to the nature of the possessions, we would need a
52hr possession for the demolition of Chalkwell Ramp and replacement access. Due to the
widespread disruption this causes, these are carefully planned,
usually 18 months to 2 years in advance. The possessions also come
at significant cost, which covers Network Rail staff time
overseeing the closure and any measures required to facilitate
passenger travel (Bus replacement services etc) which are split
between all possession holders. By awarding the contract to
Octavius to undertake the required works at Chalkwell Ramp, the council’s share of the
costs is currently c.£61K (paid directly to Network Rail) due
to the AfA scheme being major works and
sharing the costs. For a scheme with a sole possession holder (As
we would be if we didn’t work alongside Octavius) we would
likely be responsible for the full possession costs unless there
are other major works at the same time. This could be circa
£1m+ in certain circumstances.
 
6. If the Council were to
undertake a full procurement for this specialist work, it would
highly likely be limited to a very small number of contractors. It
would significantly delay the process and the works
 
7. In addition, not proceeding
as recommended would result in further negative publicity, due to
the continued closure of a popular public footpath and the lack of
alternative access (only currently via a much longer diversion
route, utilising the main highway).
 
Other options:
 
To undertake a full procurement
process for the work. This is not recommended as it would
significantly delay the Council’s ability to reinstate access
to the public footpath in a timely manner and highly likely incur
significant additional cost, exacerbated by the need for the
Council to also secure its own track possessions.
 
Note: This is an Executive
Function
Not eligible for
call-in
Cabinet Member: Cllr
Cowan