CHRISTCHURCH council should get on with rebuilding Highcliffe zig zag “now”, residents say.

The borough closed the cliff path by Highcliffe Castle last year due to subsidence and later announced it would be too costly to carry out repairs. However members have since voted to overturn that decision and at present new plans are being put together, with work scheduled to begin later this year.

However Bob Hutchings of the Rothesay Drive Residents’ Association said he and fellow members – including a group of engineers and builders who wish to check over the plans with officers – felt the council’s timescale for the work was unnecessarily long.

“First of all the officers are insisting that it has to have full planning permission,” he said.

“Why? It is a path replacing an existing path.

“And if the path does require planning permission, why doesn’t the council grant itself permitted development rights as it did with the beach huts, and was going to do with the ill-fated beach retreats.”

He said the requirement for planning permission was the chief cause of delay, as it in turn requires the production of numerous reports “on everything from heritage to biodiversity”.

“We are grateful that the council has decided to do this, but quite frankly we think it should be done a lot quicker, they should start now,” he said.

“Why are they planning to do the work over Winter? They say they don’t want the work to affect visitors but there won’t be any visitors there as the zig zag is closed."

"They should put barriers up and get on with it as they have at Avon Beach.”

Mr Hutchings said he understood the council plans to put the scheme before its own planning department in August, and if permission is granted work will get under way in October. The scheme would be finished by Easter next year.

Councillor Vicki Hallam, chairman of the zig zag path task and finish group, said the borough's timetable was agreed by members in February and it expects work on the path to begin "in the Autumn".

"The progress of the project is being closely monitored by the task and finish group who are also continuing to meet until the path is complete," she said.

"A full planning application must be submitted on this project due to the size of the development.

"The fact it is located within the grounds of a Grade I listed building and within a Site of Special Scientific Interest means that this application must be accompanied by a heritage statement, an arboricultural assessment and method statement, support from Natural England, full plans and particulars of the construction details of the works, a construction method statement and a cliff stability report.

"Officers are working to obtain these things prior to submitting a planning application and carrying out the tender process to award the contract."

Mr Hutchings also said members of his group had not been able to discuss the plans with council officers.

“We had several issues we wanted to talk about, things like the drainage,” he said.

“But the officers in their infinite wisdom do not want to be wasting time talking with ‘amateurs’, so there is a bit of friction there.”