PROBLEMS with the 150-year-old harbour wall which supports Watchet’s East Quay will take at least a year to solve, Somerset West and Taunton Council will be told at its meeting on Tuesday (October 8).

That’s how long it is estimated it will take to organise and carry out major repairs to the structure – or build a new wall.

The wall, part of Watchet marina, is only metres away from the £7 million tourist and cultural development masterminded by the Onion Collective on which work is scheduled to start this month.

The payment of a £5m Coastal Communities grant is dependant on construction starting on time.

Cllr Marcus Kravis, the district council’s lead member for economic development, told the Free Press: “We are working with the Onion Collective to ensure that their development can proceed along with any wall maintenance that may be necessary.”

The structure, officially part of the town’s sea defences, was built in 1860 at the same time as the railway. The last major work on the wall took place nearly 50 years ago.

For the full report, buy today’s Free Press (October 4).