SOUTHEND Council is spending £55,000 to try to trace the source and path of an underground stream which runs beneath the town’s top entertainment venue, the Cliffs Pavilion.
The stream was discovered last year when the boilers were being renewed at the building in Station Road, Westcliff.
It is believed the report could confirm the existence of the spring which has long been rumoured to exist and which, it has been suggested, could have been responsible for landslips in the San Remo Parade area, next to the Cliffs Pavilion.
In the past, the council has ruled out the possibility of underground streams and springs being responsible for any of the landslips on the Cliffs. Paul Driscoll, spokesman for HQ Theatres, operators of the Cliffs Pavilion, said: “This area is riddled with underground streams and there is actually one underneath the Palace Theatre in London Road.
“There are no problems with the Cliffs Pavilion. It is business as usual.”
Council head of culture Nick Harris said: “We discovered water seeping into the Cliffs Pavilion and have been doing exploratory work to find out where it is coming from. This has proved inconclusive, so we are going to use bore holes to try to identify the source of the water, which should enable us to address the problem.”
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