Many homes and businesses in Millport are at risk of flooding from the sea.

That is the stark message from North Ayrshire Council who have launched an online survey as they intend developing a design for a proposed flood protection scheme to reduce this risk.

Information and various design concepts will be on display during a public exhibition and workshops to be held at the DA Hall on Tuesday 29 November 10am-5pm and Thursday 1 December 10am-6.30pm.

Options to reduce the flood risk include breakwaters that reduce the size of waves hitting the sea walls, flood walls or increased height of the existing sea walls, to stop sea water from reaching the road and buildings.

The finalised flood protection scheme design will need to be approved by both North Ayrshire Council and the Scottish Government to secure funding.

The position and height of the breakwaters and walls will be planned in order to provide suitable protection against flooding and maintain pedestrian access around the seafront area, and around Millport Bay.

Other issues such as the position of sewer pipes, and possible impacts on the natural environment will be considered in the design.

Along West Bay Road and Millburn Street, the council propose to increase the height of the existing sea walls. A flood wall will be constructed at the top of the beach along Crichton Street.

Rock armour breakwaters could also be built on the foreshore to reduce the risk that these walls would be overtopped.

To protect the properties on the seaward side of Clyde Street, the council would either need to strengthen and raise the height of the garden walls on the seaward side, or to build a rock armour revetment.

There are three possible solutions to reduce the risk of flooding to properties along Stuart Street: i) extending Millport Pier using rock armour to build a breakwater; ii) constructing rock armour breakwaters further offshore between the Leug and the Spoig, and iii) a rock armour revetment built in front of the existing Stuart Street sea wall.

A council spokesman said: "At this stage we don’t expect to need to build a flood wall around the recreation area on Guildford Street where the ground level is higher.

"Along Glasgow Street, flood walls will be built to protect properties from flooding. There are a few options for the position of these walls. Access to the beach will be maintained and the height of the walls will be kept as low as possible."

Depending on this approval, we are aiming for construction work to begin in spring 2018.

The survey can be accessed here.

The spokesman added: "If approved we will do everything we can to minimise the effects of the construction work on residents and visitors, including considering the timing of the work and how to manage construction traffic and noise."

The public consultation is scheduled to take place on the following dates:
Tuesday, 29 November: 10am to 5pm - open public exhibition, 10.30am - 30-minute presentation on scheme proposal 11am-12noon – Community design workshop 3.30pm -30-minute presentation on scheme proposals, and 4pm-5pm - Community design workshop Thursday, 1 December: 10am to 7pm - open public exhibition, 10.30am - 30-minute presentation on scheme proposals 11am-12noon - community design workshop 5pm - 30-minute presentation on scheme proposals, and 5.30pm-6.30pm - community design workshop.

Council officials will be carrying out a student consultation on Wednesday, 30 November, involving Largs Academy and Millport Primary pupils.