THE DECISION on providing extra resources to repair Highcliffe zig zag path will be made tonight - but campaigners are claiming the cost could be reduced further.

Members of Christchurch Borough Council meet this evening at the Civic Offices to debate whether additional money should be allocated to carry out major work to make the footpath safe.

The coastal access route has been closed for nearly a year.

In August councillors on the community committee marginally voted not to fund the rising costs of the project, which had reportedly exceeded £1.2m.

Following extensive campaigning, this decision was put into doubt by a full council vote to set up a task and finish group to come up with cheaper solutions.

The report submitted ahead of this evening’s meeting recommends allocating an extra £239,500 to the project.

This includes two contingencies from consulting engineers AECOM and the council, set at £83,000 and £100,000 respectively.

Officers stated at a meeting of the task and finish group that this was due to the “high risk” nature of the project.

Chairman of Rothesay Drive Residents Association, Bob Hutchings, who has led the campaign to reopen the zig zag path, said he will be raising several topics at the crunch meeting.

“The task and finish group has been very receptive and allowed us to be involved with the process and I hope the members will be onboard with it,” he said.

“Hopefully the councillors are not scared by the amount being recommended and consider the additional savings.”

Mr Hutchings says the campaigning team, which includes a contractor, civil engineer, quantity surveyor and an architect, are confident the budget can be reduced further.

He also said that the council officers have taken the upper bound estimates from the AECOM report, while there also lower bound estimates.

“There is £25,000 which could be cut by not doing certain things and using a different surface. This all adds up and makes a difference,” Mr Hutchings said.

“We have been talking to several large contracting firms about how they would go about this job.”