Formby beach rangers successfully overturn planning refusal to remove war rubble

The National Trust have won an appeal against a planning decision which told them they couldn’t remove piles of rubble from Formby Beach.

The Trust successfully overturned a decision by Sefton Council’s Planning Committee which initially said they couldn’t touch the dangerous pile which is made up of broken concrete, brick walls and housing materials from a decommissioned war barracks

Regular visitors to Formby’s coastline will be familiar with the sight of rubble on the beach at Victoria Road. The rubble is all that remains of the old Harington Barracks, which were demolished after the Second World War.

The demolition rubble was used to form the foundations of the current beach car park. Natural processes that create Formby’s fast-shifting shoreline mean that each year more rubble is being exposed.

The rubble is disconnecting wildlife habitats and restricting visitor access to the beach.

Now the land will be ‘re-wilded’ for local flora and fauna.