Proposals for a new clifftop shelter labelled by a community leader as a “monstrosity” have been ditched in favour of a more traditional design.

%image(15442878, type="article-full", alt="The old South Cliff shelter at Felixstowe which was demolished in 1983. A new concrete shelter is now to be built as part of the refurbishment of the gardens.")

Some councillors at Felixstowe were outraged by the modernistic concrete structure agreed for the town’s South Cliff Gardens, next to the Town Hall, as part of the £4.8million renovation of the seafront gardens.

Councillor Kimberley Williams described the shelter – which was to cost £144,000 – as a “complete and utter monstrosity” while town council planning committee chairman Andy Smith was disappointed to see something so “starkly modern” but the town would have no choice but to grin and bear it.

Now though Suffolk Coastal council has submitted a fresh design, which councillors are asked to approve on April 2.

In a report, planning case Officer Michaelle Coupe said the original shelter on the upper terrace of South Cliff – a timber Edwardian reading room with a roof viewing platform, surrounded by decorative lamp columns – had been a focal point in the garden.

%image(15442881, type="article-full", alt="The design for the contemporary concrete shelter in the South Cliff Gardens alongside Felixstowe Town Hall - the design was labelled a "monstrosity".")

It was demolished in 1983 after falling into disrepair.

She said the proposed contemporary concrete shelter was to have been cut into the existing bank to act as a retaining wall.

She said: “The requirement for a concrete shelter that acts as a retaining wall is no longer necessary, and it is now proposed to erect a lighter weight timber frame structure with tiled pitched roof that has clearer historical associations with the shelter that formerly occupied this area of the gardens.

“The new seating shelter will provide an attractive new addition to the Town Hall garden and restore its formal civic design by reinstating a local focal point that would be to the benefit of residents and visitors alike.”