Highcliffe beach ramps to be rebuilt after years of washout

The two ramps most people use from Highcliffe Cliff Top car park have been washing out for years. Uneven patches and steep stretches have made the drop to the beach a trial for pushchairs, mobility scooters and anyone catching their footing after rain. Mid-September, contractors start a £220,000 rebuild of the East and West ramps that is meant to put a stop to that.

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council and Highcliffe and Walkford Parish Council are splitting the bill. Work is due to last about 12 weeks. Planning permission granted in January (P/25/05302/FUL) allows the top layers of earlier backfill to be stripped out and the gradient eased in the worst places, with drainage rebuilt so the next winter does not carve the surface open again.

Cllr Andy Martin, the Highcliffe and Walkford ward member and acting parish chair, first pressed the case in 2023. He called the finished scheme a three-year job brought home by officers and by both councils putting money on the table. Cllr Richard Herrett, BCP’s portfolio holder for destination and leisure, said the point of the work is safer, more usable access at a beach that still holds a Blue Flag.

The beach itself stays open. One ramp will be worked on at a time so the other remains in use. Naish Beach is unaffected. Anyone who wants to avoid the site can still reach Highcliffe Beach on the tarmac route from Waterford Road or on the network of other cliff paths, including the rebuilt zig-zag from Highcliffe Castle.

For a town that parks hundreds of cars on the cliff top and then has to get people, kit and children down to the shingle, the ramps are not a side issue. They are the last few hundred metres of the journey. After this autumn they should hold.