Brightlingsea Town Council (BTC) has reported that work to complete the rebuild Bateman’s Tower Café – which began over five years ago – is going on behind the scenes.

A dispute between the owner, Lisa Brown, and the builder is believed to have been the main reason that work to replace the old single story building stalled.

Keen to see the project finished, at one point the council – which owns the land – threatened legal action when responses were not forthcoming.

Further problems arose when the building – which was designed to float in the event of a flood – settled incorrectly after floating during the tidal surge that inundated the Promenade area in early 2020

In November 2024 the council said it was shown new plans developed by a civil engineer said to be “highly experienced” with waterside developments. Brightlingsea Info understands that the proposals include raising up the existing building and placing it on stilts.

“Whilst things have not started happening on the site, much work has taken place on the planning and Environmental Agency approvals,” says BTC, which has previously been assured by Ms Brown that “finances were in place to bring this programme to a conclusion”.

Although no updates to the plans have been posted on Tendring District Council’s planning portal, in its latest newsletter BTC adds: “The architect is confident that the actual construction work will be starting in the near future as soon as these approvals have been granted.”