An £850,000 tree-lined artificial lagoon, which was to set to transform Southend seafront, has been thrown into jeopardy.

Southend Council needed a marine licence for the huge swimming pool, at Three Shells Beach, but has revealed authorities rejected the application after objections.

Work was set to start on the football pitch-sized pool last March.

The council insists it will continue to iron out the issues with the application, but conceded the attraction won’t be ready until next summer at the earliest.

Alexandra Yacht Club, which launches boats next to the lagoon site, has lodged an objection – backed by the Royal Yacht Association and the Maritime and Coastguard Association.

The yachtsmen claim the development will block their jetty, will be a health and safety hazard, and could force them to close.

However, nearby businesses labelled them “short sighted”.

Paul Thompson, chairman of the Southend Seafront Traders Association, said: “I think it’s a real shame as the lagoon would have been fantastic this summer for everyone, and would have really attracted tourists and locals.

“They don’t even have a clubhouse at the moment, so I’m sure there could have been a simple solution.

“It’s a bit selfish.”

Lib Dem Graham Longley, councillor responsible for culture at Southend Council, said funding for the scheme is put forward from the Government and has no time limit.

Other events paid for by Whitehall’s Coastal Communities Fund, such as the seafront Maritime Festival, will go ahead as planned this year.

The Stockvale Group, which owns Adventure Island, is also pumping £100,000 into the lagoon scheme.

Mr Longley added: “We are disappointed we can’t get it up and running this year.

“But we are confident, because of the security of the money, that this will happen. It can be solved and we’ve had initial discussions.”

The attraction, decked out with palm trees, will be built using a 120m-long steel, rock, and boulder wall, and would have provided a pool for visitors whatever the state of the estuary tide.

Planning permission was granted in 2014, despite 33 objections, but the authority cannot start work without securing a marine licence.

The Echo contacted Alexandra Yacht Club, but members didn’t want to comment.

Echo:

Marine Management Organisation comes in for criticism

Council bosses criticised the Marine Management Organisation for the time it took to make a decision.

The authority said the MMO took 26 weeks to examine the application, confirming it cannot give permission because of the objections.

The MMO insists it only started considering the authority’s application in September after the council submitted insufficient paperwork three times over the summer, but the council said the processes to obtain a licence were not clear.

Scott Dolling, the council’s head of economy, regeneration and tourism said “It is very disappointing that we have waited so long for a decision that now holds up such a positive project.

“We will work closely with all involved to try and overcome any local issues to unlock the MMO blockage and progress the work ready for next summer.”

The MMO has said it hasn’t outright rejected the application, but wrote to the authority in March to say the yacht club had objected because of “navigational risk”, and a meeting took place in mid-April between the council and boat club, and it is waiting to hear back.

Because the development is in the sea, it needs a marine licence under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 The MMO added that it usually makes a decision within 13 weeks, but had not been able to because of the objection.