THE line restricting the removal of the saltmarsh from Cleethorpes beach is to be moved back 30 metres.
Councillor Peter Wheatley, North East Lincolnshire Council's portfolio holder for regeneration and environment, has announced that an agreement has been reached with Natural England to move the line.
It comes just two weeks after Councillor John Fenty (Con, Humberston and New Waltham) said he would be prepared to go to jail for digging up the vegetation to stop it spreading along the coastline.
He has welcomed the announcement, but says he will keep pushing for the line to be moved back even further away from the main tourist beach.
Speaking at Thursday's full council meeting, Councillor Wheatley said: "I have got some good news for Councillor Fenty. After discussions with myself and Councillor Karl Wilson regarding the saltmarsh, I can tell him that Natural England have agreed for the invisible line that starts from a very rusty rail, to be moved back 30 metres."
He explained that the "invisible line" would be marked by buoys, so that any spread of the saltmarsh would be clear to members of the public.
Jokingly claiming credit for getting Councillor Fenty out of jail, he added: "With Grimsby Town close to another trip to Wembley I do not think it would be good for him to be detained at Her Majesty's Pleasure. I hope he will thank me for saving him from being behind bars and that instead he will be at the front of the bar celebrating a famous victory for his team."
As reported, Councillor Fenty had urged the council to negotiate a more "sensible" agreement with Natural England over the removal of the vegetation, claiming that it had "given away the crown jewels" in the agreement adopted in 2011.
Under the Cleethorpes Habitat Management Plan, the council and Natural England agreed upon a line marking out where selected removal of the saltmarsh could take place.
That line ran across the beach level with the handrail on the promenade next to the leisure centre car park. It will now be moved 30 metres back towards the leisure centre building.
The Grimsby Telegraph approached Natural England for a statement yesterday, but a spokesman said the manager responsible for the saltmarsh was unavailable.
