A FENLAND councillor has given her backing to a £7million scheme to prepare Wisbech s famous North Brink for the predicted rise in sea levels. Councillor Ann Carlisle lives in North Brink and says the improvements planned by the Environment Agency are es

A FENLAND councillor has given her backing to a £7million scheme to prepare Wisbech's famous North Brink for the predicted rise in sea levels.

Councillor Ann Carlisle lives in North Brink and says the improvements planned by the Environment Agency are "essential work".

But she also hopes public opinion will be listened to by replacing cobble stones, which run alongside the wall in North Brink, with a footpath.

Cllr Carlisle said: "There will be inconveniences and we will have to accept that, but it is necessary from the view of our safety.

"The cobbles are very difficult to keep clean and they need a lot of work doing to them. I hope the Environment Agency has taken on suggestions from the various people that went to exhibitions."

The Environment Agency has been looking at improving the flood defences along the River Nene for the last year to combat the threat of global warming.

Phil Clow, project manager for the Wisbech Flood Defence Scheme at the Environment Agency, said: "Existing parts of the wall are not up to standard and we are hoping to replace them. In other places we are hoping to add coping stones to the top of the wall.

"It will look a lot better for the town and it will rise the wall ever so slightly in line with the sea level rise in the wake of global warming. The tides will rise in the area so we will need to plan for that."

They are hoping to gain funding and approval through an internal process, which should be completed in the next few months. Plans will then be submitted to Fenland District Council.

The existing flood defence walls alongside the river were built after the floods of 1978.