THE FINAL sea defence plans for coastlines in the area have been rubber-stamped by Chichester District Council.

During a full council meeting at the Selsey Centre, Manor Road, the final recommendations for the Pagham to East Head draft coastal defence strategy were discussed.

The majority of councillors voted to adopt the sea defences policies as the coast protection authority for the area and support the plans, which are drawn up by the Environment Agency.

However, Selsey councillor Roland O’Brien, of the Save our Selsey sea defence campaign group, thinks finding the money to pay for the sea defences would be a ‘huge challenge’.

“It has been suggested local funding should be explored. Between £31m and £41m would need to be raised to pay for the works at Selsey,” he said after the meeting.

“We have been having discussions with local stockholders about where we are going to find the money.”

At the full council meeting, Pieter Montyn of the environment department at the district council outlined the local authority has two parts to play in relation to sea defences.

It is the coast protection authority for the area and it is also a consultee, and can choose whether to support or reject the EA’s plans.

The Pagham to East Head draft coastal defence strategy was updated in the summer after a two-month public consultation.

In the updated version more houses in West Wittering are to be protected.

During the full council meeting, Cllr Montyn also assured Cllr O’Brien the protection of the Medmerry Cliffs will be considered.

Over the next century the EA has chosen to strengthen the sea defences in Selsey, East Wittering, Bracklesham, Cakeham and ‘hold the line’ as sea levels rise.

Flood barriers are to be moved further inland at Medmerry to protect the area. Local flood defences are set to be built to protect the homes at West Wittering.

An adaptive management approach has been taken for Pagham and East Head, meaning sea defences will be monitored over a period of time
and changed according to the rise in sea levels.

What happens next?

The Pagham to East Head draft coastal defence strategy is to go before the National Review Group within the Environment Agency this week, which looks at the economic and environmental aspects of the plans.

Questions from the meeting and points raised by the group will be put to the Environment Agency.

If everything has been agreed, the next step is for the plans to go before an agency board for the plans to get officially rubber-stamped. The EA is expecting the plans to be formally completed by the end of next year.

Andrew Gilham, south east coast area manager at the EA, said: “While this process is going on, we will be working on the ground to protect coasts from erosion and flooding.

“We will need to engage with the community next year to begin the realignment work at Medmerry. The works could start by 2010.”

Story in the Chichester Observer