Council to resubmit plans to replace seafront railings

Town councillors have agreed to submit a second planning application for modern railings along a section of Lyme Regis seafront, despite its last attempt being turned down.A planning application to replace 220 metres of old railings at the eastern end of Marine Parade with the more modern design seen along the rest of the seafront was recently turned down by West Dorset District Council – the same authority that installed the newer railings when the coastal protection works were completed.Senior conservation officer Kate Williams advised against replacing the old railings, and the application was refused on the casting vote of planning committee chairman Fred Horsington.Town councillor Brian Larcombe has argued that the old railings are in a worse condition than was presented to the district council, and that their heritage value is not as significant as Ms Williams claimed in her report, as several sections have already been replaced with scaffolding poles and scrap metal.He said that the council could benefit from re-applying for planning permission if they showed what was currently in place – which has been described as a health and safety hazard – “more graphically”.Councillor Cheryl Reynolds said the council should never have chosen the modern design for the new railings seen elsewhere on Marine Parade, as they looked like they belonged “on a motorway”.Councillors agreed to re-submit their planning application with more visual evidence of the current condition of the old railings.