Consultants were paid about £140,000 to come up with a masterplan to regenerate Jaywick, the Gazette can reveal.
The East of England Development Agency (EEDA) this week revealed the cost of the fruitless attempt to come up with a plan to revive the resort.
London-based Llewelyn Davies Yeang initially devised three proposals but the preferred model caused uproar among residents because it would have meant demolishing more than 500 homes.
They went back to the drawing board but could not come up with a suitable fourth option.
Now the Jaywick Agencies Group, which includes EEDA, Essex County Council and Tendring Council, has commissioned a flood study and will consult residents again when it is complete.
An EEDA spokesman said: "The report has been incredibly helpful in investigating ways of regenerating Jaywick and what the people locally felt about them, but it became evident that further strategic flood risk assessment work would be needed."
- More in today's Gazette
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