Locals fear that changing the beach will hit the tourist trade

Gwynedd Council wants to provide a rock armour style of defence at Tywyn which local people claim would hit the tourist industry because it will make the beach unusable.

The council's coast protection scheme was proposed in 2001 and led to strong local opposition.

And on Friday, a public meeting heard that the impact of the council's preferred option would now be investigated.

I am delighted the consultants will now carry out an economic study of the impact the council's plan would have on tourism Lisa Francis, AM

The survey will be done by independent consultants appointed by the council and funded by the Welsh assembly.

One of the 200 people who attended the Tywyn meeting was Mid and West Wales Assembly Member, Lisa Francis.

Economic study

"Many people are worried that the rock armour method of coastal protection favoured by the council will cut off the beach for most of the day," she said.

"This will mean that the beach could only be used for about four hours either side of low water."

According to Ms Francis, many locals believe that a cheap and effective method of flood defence would be to skim sand from the bottom of the Dyfi estuary and pump it north along the coast where it would act as a natural coastal defence.

"I am delighted the consultants will now carry out an economic study of the impact the council's plan would have on tourism," she added.

The beach could end up being protected by boulders

Earlier this month, Carwyn Jones, the Welsh assembly's environment minister, wrote to Ms Francis in response to concerns raised by some residents in Tywyn.

"It is clear that although the council's proposals appear to provide a satisfactory solution for coast protection purposes at Tywyn, they are perceived locally as being detrimental to the amenity of the beach," he said.

"In seeking a way forward, consideration has been given to the desirability of developing alternative options which would address both coast protection requirements and local concerns regarding the amenity"

Mike Stevens, chairman of Tywyn and Aberdyfi Coast Protection Group, claims the council plan to cover the main beach with thousands of tonnes of boulders.

"This would have turned our safe beach into a very dangerous place and we felt this would have had a disastrous effect on tourism in Tywyn," he said.