02 February 2023 , 15:39
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A former restaurant perched perilously close to the edge of a cliff faces an uncertain future as coastal erosion threatens to destroy the cliffside.
The Birling Gap Visitor Centre, formerly a hotel and restaurant, sits on the area of Beachy Head in East Sussex, where thousands of tourists visit every year for its long stretches of coastline.
Recent cliff falls means the popular visitor centre, run by the National Trust, has had to move its café from the rear to the front of the building.
Now work is set to begin to demolish the area once used for the café to adapt to the everchanging cliff top.
A warning on the trust’s website says the beach below the centre is currently closed over concerns for more falls.
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The building's cafe has been moved from the edge of the cliff (EDDIE MITCHELL)It reads: “The beach remains closed due to the increased risk of cliff failure at this time. “When on the cliffs, please stay at least 5m back from the cliff edge at all times as they are also prone to collapse without notice.”
Several metres have been lost off the cliff face in recent years, putting the building at risk.
This is not the first time the centre has changed because of the changing clifftop.
In 2014 a series of cliff falls meant seven metres of land was lost in seven weeks, meaning the cafe was only five metres from disaster.
A recent rock fall has eroded more land from the edge of the cliff (Martin Burton/SussexLive)As a result the sun lounge, ice-cream parlour and part of the west wing of the hotel were taken down.
A spokesman for the National Trust said: “The visitor building at Birling Gap sits on top of the Seven Sisters chalk cliffs, on a shoreline that’s constantly changing due to rising sea levels, erosion and weathering.
“These natural processes have been occurring for centuries and have shaped Birling Gap and the Seven Sisters seen today.
“The National Trust takes a long-term view to planning for the future by working with natural coastal change where possible.
“As part of these plans, the visitor facility at Birling Gap is continuing to adapt to coastal change. Between 2010-2013 plans were developed for the building at Birling Gap, which had previously been a hotel and bar.
The beach below Birling Gap has been closed to the public (Martin Burton/SussexLive)“This process included visitor and local resident feedback and involved increasing the area that the café covered and creating a visitor centre, learning space, additional toilets, and shop.
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“Since 2014 the cliffs have continued to erode at an unpredictable rate and parts of the building are now within metres of the cliff.
“The latest adaptations include the relocation of the café into the old visitor centre space further away from the cliff edge during the last month.
“A new visitor welcome space has also been created behind the café. Work will now start on taking down the front of the building – what was the café and the rest of the west wing to ensure we keep visitors safe and continue to adapt to the changing coastline.
“The beach remains closed until further notice.”