Kate Winslet lodges plans for an upgrade at her £3.25million Grade II-listed waterfront home

Kate Winslet has lodged plans to replace rotting gates at her Grade II-listed seaside home as part of a battle against flooding and coastal erosion. The Titanic star made a planning application with her council to replace two sets of gates at her historic property, which she bought for £3.25million in 2013. Her home, in West Wittering, Sussex, is close to the waterfront of the quaint seaside village, with other resident celebrities including Rolling Stone Keith Richards and actor Nicholas Lyndhurst. Ms Winslet wants to replace two sets of historic wooden gates, which she said are rotting from being constantly exposed to the salty sea air. She proposed new sets of gates - one facing the house and another on the waterfront - made from a treated timber, which her architects said was 'highly resistant to decay' and would last far longer than ordinary wood. The star's planning application said: 'In this exposed, salt-laden position the gates would stay in good condition for considerably longer than a conventional timber gate, with minimal maintenance.' Kate Winslet has made another planning application to alter her Grade-II listed property in West Wittering The sandy beach at the mouth of Chichester Harbour in West Sussex, where Ms Winslet's home is situated close to the waterfrontThe property, currently valued to be worth around £5million, was built during the reign of Queen Anne in the early 18th century and underwent a renovation in the 1930s. But the house, shared by Ms Winslet and her husband, Edward Abel Smith, is located in a Flood Zone 3 - the highest risk category. The area has been blighted with an eroding coastline and crumbling sea defences, which the council has spent millions in recent years trying to battle. In nearby Selsey, a public consultation was held this month on a coastal defence scheme covering 4.5km of coastline. It planned to protect 3,900 properties over the next century to cope with rising sea levels and the more frequent storms. Earlier this year, council officers warned residents that erosion has left sea defences with less than a two-and-a-half year lifespan. A local paper reported in June: 'Leading councillors have agreed to seek further funding of £1.2million to help protect homes and businesses in Selsey and the Witterings from the risk of flooding and coastal erosion.'Last December, the council approved plans to dump 400 tonnes of shingle on Ella Nore Spit in West Wittering to protect the saltmarsh behind it after waves washed over the spit's neck. And in 2012, when the Environment Agency began building new tidal defences at West Wittering, it said the village was at 'significant risk of flooding from high tides in Chichester Harbour'. The plans for the new gates, which will be made of a treated timber to withstand the salty sea air The application stated that the public King Charles III England Coast Path, which runs between the two sets of gates, will not be obstructedThe same agency has so far raised no objection to Ms Winslet's new gate proposal, but reminded the applicant that work within 16metres of a sea defence may need a separate environmental permit. It is not the first time the actress has battled with nature. In 2015, she withdrew an application for a sea barrier about 170metres long at the property. Two years later, she was granted permission for 150metres of new timber sea defences on the foreshore. Under the current proposals, Ms Winslet's harbour-side gateway would be widened from about 1.15metres to 1.5metres. To make room, a 1.2metre stretch of hedge would be dug up, moved about 1.8metres and replanted with native holly, wild privet and hawthorn.Her planning agents emphasised that 'no historic fabric is affected' and that the plans would cause 'no harm to the significance of the designated heritage asset'. Both sets of gates would also stay the same height - 1.65metres for the house-facing pair and 1.8metres on the waterfront. A public footpath that forms part of the King Charles III England Coast Path runs between the two gates, but Ms Winslet's application states that walkers won't be obstructed by the new builds, nor will there be any modifications such as cameras, external lighting, or intercoms on the gates. The gates are the latest in a string of work undertaken at the property, which boasts eight bedrooms and panoramic coastal views over Chichester Harbour. In April, the council approved a string of changes inside the home, including removing the indoor swimming pool in the basement and replacing it with a gym with new steps and a glass door. Modern-fitted furniture in a playroom, cupboards and partition walls are also set to be stripped out. Two first-floor ensuites will be removed to restore an earlier bedroom layout, a second-floor family bathroom will become an en suite and two second-floor windows beyond repair will be replaced. In July, Ms Winslet was granted retrospective permission to use an existing outbuilding and shed as a gym, store and annexe. And in September, she got consent to redecorate the windows, doors, gutters and balcony railings. The Daily Mail has approached Ms Winslet for comment.