A public consultation has been launched by Ceredigion County Council into the multi-million-pound sea defence scheme for Aberystwyth after authorities admitted that the “ability of the current coastal defences to protect Aberystwyth is becoming less effective as climate change takes effect and sea levels rise”.

Cllr Dafydd Edwards, Cabinet member with responsibility for highways and environmental services, said: “Recent severe storm events have seen damage to the coastal defences and large amounts of sand, stones and water thrown up on to the promenade and Marine Terrace and Victoria Terrace.

“As a result, we realise we need to improve the infrastructure to avoid excessive damage during such events and therefore we are looking to bolster the sea defences.”

A Ceredigion council spokesperson said: “Now that we have a chosen option we want to find out what the public think about it.

“Because of feedback we received from other such events in Aberaeron and Borth that it is not always easy to picture what something might look like from plans, a computer simulation has been created.

“The feedback received will be taken into account during any detailed design work for the scheme.”

Anyone with comments about the proposed scheme can complete a survey by emailing [email protected] or writing to Ceredigion County Council, Highways and Environmental Services, Canolfan Rheidol, Rhodfa Padarn, Llanbadarn Fawr, Aberystwyth, SY23 3UE.

Once the consultation on the initial scheme proposals has closed, the council said it “will consider the feedback” it receives during the process, before sending the Welsh Government a final document.

The Welsh Government will then decide whether to continue to support the scheme’s development.

The closing date for the consultation is Friday, 9 November.