A Management Plan for the Suffolk Coast and Heaths, the officially designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) stretching from Kessingland to the Stour estuary has just been published. It is part of the family of protected landscapes that make up Britain’s finest countryside. At the heart of the plan, is a new twenty-year vision that sets out in detail the aims for the conservation of this beautiful landscape. The plan brings together the work of a 26 member Partnership that includes Natural England, Local Authorities, conservation organisations, community groups and businesses in the area.
More information can be obtained on the Suffolk Coast and Heaths website
The infrastructure network in the UK, including power stations, water plants, and transport systems is still far too vulnerable to flooding events according to a report, Flooding: Engineering Resilience, by the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE).
In a section concentrating on the East of England, it also comments that:
“No other area of the UK is in such real and immediate danger from flooding as the East of England. It’s at risk from all sides: coastal erosion and flooding, tidal surges, river flooding and overflowing drains in towns and cities.
“In November 2007 Great Yarmouth and Ipswich came within 120mm of being swamped by a North Sea tidal surge. A controversial ‘managed realignment’ could sacrifice 6,000 ha of the Norfolk coastline to rising sea levels, according to the Environment Agency.”
Full details on the ICE website
New map shows Medway’s climate change threat.
Today, the World Development Movement has published a shocking new map and data, clearly showing the very real affect that climate change could have in Kent, especially in Medway.
From a press release on the World Development Movement website
On BBC Radio 4’s Open Country transmitted today features the Faversham Road Residents Association
Ever since the storm surge and the Great Flood of 1953 threatened the North Kent coast, the inhabitants of low lying areas of the county have lived with the risk that the sea may one day flood their homes.
Nick Crane visits the coast to meet those involved in the management of the shore, along with those who are being affected by the shifting sands and the rising tides. (more…)
Findings from a Manhood Going Dutch II workshop will be presented at a public community event on Tuesday.
The workshop, to be run by the Manhood Peninsula Partnership from Sunday to Tuesday, is designed to bring international experts and local people together to look at ways of dealing with local coastal defence issues.
It is scheduled to coincide with the consultation period for the draft coastal defence strategy prepared by the Environment Agency and Chichester and Arun District Councils.
Partnership chairman Cllr Peter Jones said the community was invited to make suggestions on how to manage the coastline, and numerous responses had been received.
“These suggestions, along with the options stated in the draft strategy, will be assessed by our Dutch and British delegates over three days,” he added.
“The experts’ findings will be presented at Earnley Concourse on June 24, and the Manhood community are invited to attend to hear what our delegates have concluded. It looks to be an interesting and important event.”
Spaces for the final presentation are limited and entrance to the event will be by ticket only.
Story in the Chichester Observer
Protecting Medmerry’s sea defences would be only ‘fighting against nature’.
That is the verdict of James Humphrys, Solent and South Downs area manager for the Environment Agency (EA), on the crumbling sea defences for the area in Selsey.
The EA announced its proposals to move the sea defence boundaries at Medmerry and carry out controlled flooding for the area over the next century.
The Pagham to East Head draft coastal defence strategy was announced on May 29 and in it the EA proposed to sustain Selsey’s sea defences.
“We all feel a deep wish to provide total protection for everybody all the time,” said Mr Humphrys.
“The reality is we can’t do that. We have a limited amount of money.”
The coast is divided into different stretches because of the different states and populations of each area.
The EA said it was in talks with Bunn Leisure about how they could both work together to find a solution for protecting Medmerry and the holiday park.
Mr Humphrys said: “In some parts of the peninsula it is actually fighting against nature and that’s not something we can continue to do. With Medmerry there is a lot of low-lying land with a very low population density. We will make arrangements with landowners about our proposals.”
Story in the Chichester Observer
