A big section of the Norfolk Broads as well as a cluster of villages and thousands of acres of farmland face being surrendered to the sea under secret plans to save the rest of the Norfolk coast from the impact of climate change. A scheme drawn up by experts at Natural England, the body born out of the Countryside Agency and English Nature in 2006, envisages that 25 square miles of fen and fields would be wiped off the map for ever in an attempt to realign the coastline.

Read the full story by Countryside Editor Valerie Elliott on the Times website

Large swathes of Norfolk, including six villages, could be flooded under a controversial plan to deal with the effects of climate change. The proposal would see Britain effectively admit defeat in the battle to maintain coastal defences and around 16,000 acres (25 square miles) of land in the Norfolk Broads would be allowed to flood.

Read the full story by Nick Allen on the Telegraph website

For the best view of the next stage of the climate change debate, you need Mike Page’s help. CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips got a ride in his Cessna plane.

Page has been documenting what’s been happening to his home turf. There’s less and less of it.The soft sand cliffs of certain parts of the coast have always been vulnerable to erosion and the government put in a system of sea defenses about 50 years ago to try to protect it.

For decades, with constant maintenance, it worked. But with rising sea levels and rising costs, about 10 years ago, they gave up. Page’s footage, shot over the past several years, shows what happened.

Read the full story on the CBS News website

Coastal home owners have won a landmark ruling against a Government agency which was attempting to force them to abandon their homes to the sea.

Charlie England, an artist who lives on an eroding cliff at Easton Bavents, north of Southwold, in Suffolk, has won an appeal against Natural England which refused to allow him to maintain sea defences protecting his property.

An inspector decided that Natural England’s plans to force erosion on the occupiers of properties on the cliff would have constituted an unnecessary and disproportionate interference with their human rights.

Read the full story by Charles Clover, Environment Editor on the Telegraph website

A legal victory by the tenant of a cliff-top chalet in East Anglia is good news for everybody living on the coast of England, it was claimed last night.

Charles England, the tenant of a chalet at Easton Bavents, near Southwold, has won an appeal against a refusal by conservation body Natural England to allow him to maintain the shingle sea defences protecting his property.

Last night his neighbour, Peter Boggis, who has spent £500,000 constructing his own sea defences along that stretch of coastline, said: “This decision has repercussions for everybody living on the coast of England. It means bureaucracy no longer has the upper hand to bully people and assure the destruction of their properties.”

Retired engineer Mr Boggis, who is spokesman for Easton Bavents Conservation and is fighting his own legal battle against Natural England over his defences, added: “I am thankful to the inspector and the secretary of state for the clarity of their decision.

“It has been hell to watch my, and my neighbour’s, property being destroyed at the whim of dictatorial agencies, having personally taken care to protect them without cost to the nation until forced to neglect them by Natural England in December 2005.”

Natural England, which declared the area a site of special scientific interest (SSSI) argued that protecting the cliffs would prevent access, study and analysis of geological exposures in the cliff. It said it was in the national interest that natural erosion should continue, and that this outweighed Mr England’s human rights.

But independent inspector Kenneth Smith reported to Defra that, contrary to Natural England’s insistence, the site’s special scientific interest was better served by protecting it against erosion than by allowing it to be destroyed.

He also decided that Natural England’s plans to force erosion on the occupiers would constitute an “unnecessary and disproportionate interference” with human rights.

His report has been accepted by environment secretary David Miliband, who has directed Natural England to issue a consent to recharge and maintain the part of the so-called “soft” sea defence in front of Mr England’s property. Mr England’s solicitor, Peter Scott, said: “This is a ground-breaking decision. It shows that Natural England are likely to be unable, through the creation of SSSIs, to force people to lose their properties to coastal erosion without paying compensation. This is a very significant development in a long-running campaign to save Easton Bavents from being destroyed by the North Sea”. Natural England was not available for comment.

Story by Jon Welch in the EDP