A MAJOR coastal defence project that will protect hundreds of homes in a Hampshire village has been given the go-ahead by councillors.

The £8.4m Portchester coastal defences project which were unveiled by the Eastern Solent Coastal Partnership spans for 1.7km from Portchester Sailing Club to Port Solent and were approved by Fareham councillors.

They claim current defences are no longer suitable after they were battered by heavy storms and winds in winter 2013 and need to be upgraded before it is too late.

Councillor Shaun Cunningham, for Portchester East, said: “The flood prevention scheme at Portchester will safeguard a large number of homes and businesses that has been needed for a very long time.

“Is therefore essential the scheme comes forward sooner rather than giving those under the threat of possible coastal flooding some acknowledgement that the problem is actually going to be dealt with”.

The proposals would include a newly constructed sheet piled wall and sloping revetment between Portchester Sailing Club and Castle Shaw Park along with a new revetment wall and the raising of land between Southampton Road in the village and Port Solent.

Currently more than 361 residential and 108 commercial properties on Hamilton and Southampton Road in Portchester along with Portchester Sailing Club are at risk of flooding with that expected to rise to 662 residential and 141 commercial properties by 2115.

Funding from the project will come from the Environment Agencies Flood and Coastal Erosion Grant in Aid who will contribute £5.4 million along with an additional £3.075 million from private developer Quadrant who own Industrial development Trafalgar Wharf in the village.

The scheme follows a previous £1m coastal defence’s project at Hillhead which will protect more than 30 beach huts and a number of residential properties from flooding.

Councillor Sean Woodward, the leader of Fareham Borough Council who had been looking at the scheme for several years said: “In Portchester, there are a significant proportion of properties that are at risk from flooding so it is vital that we go ahead with the project.

“It’s a big project that I am happy to support and implement in what will be the borough’s biggest defence’s project although we will not be putting any funding into it ourselves.”

Construction on the project is expected to start in spring 2019 and is expected to take 18 months.