PARTS of Morecambe could disappear beneath the waves if rising sea levels continue over the next 100 years, according to a new report.

Experts looking at the erosion of the North West coastline say roads and railways in the town could be affected by coastal flooding. Schools and potentially, the Queen Victoria Hospital Centre are all in the coastal flood risk zone. (more…)

The groynes at East Beach, Selsey, are being repaired after Chichester District Council successfully bid for funding from the Environment Agency.

The work, which will be completed before the end of March, will involve the repair and refurbishment of the 52 timber and steel groynes that control the movement of shingle along the frontage.

The scheme will also involve a number of other improvements, including minor works to the sea wall. (more…)

Drs Richard Kingston and Adam Barker, University of Manchester’s School of Environment and Development, have launched a website where citizens and organisations can view maps showing how various coastal areas will likely be affected by rising seas. The maps also provide links to proposed policies for the North West England and North Wales Shoreline Management Plan as well as to a form for offering public comments on those proposals. (more…)

Experts at The University of Manchester are to produce a detailed picture of the public’s views on the uncertain future of a 250-mile-stretch of coastline.

Large parts of the coast between Anglesey and Carlisle are likely to be adversely affected by rising sea levels and erosion over the next hundred years.

The area is home to some of Britain’s most celebrated wildlife, important transport links, densely populated coastal towns and cities and the nuclear reactor at Sellafield.

Drs Richard Kingston and Adam Barker from the University’s School of Environment and Development have launched a website which allows the public to add their views to an online coastal map. (more…)

Plans to recycle 15,000 tons of sand and shingle at East Head have been submitted to Chichester District Council (CDC).

The works form part of the Pagham to East Head Coastal Defence Strategy which were drawn up by the Environment Agency.

The strategy aims to protect East Head and West Wittering, among other coastlines in the peninsula, from being eroded and flooded in the future. (more…)

Opening England’s coast to walkers will boost the country’s flagging economy by £128m, campaigners will tell Parliament today.

A report commissioned by the Ramblers found that more than 11,300 jobs could be created if the proposed path along the whole length of the country’s coast becomes a reality. The House of Lords is debating the Marine and Coastal Access Bill, which includes the provision for a coastal corridor for walkers.

Tom Franklin, chief executive of the Ramblers – formerly the Ramblers’ Association – said: “For coastal economies, the continuous coastal path around Britain is paved with gold.”

“Our vision is for a coastal trail that brings economic and ecological prosperity to coastal areas – currently suffering badly in the recession. Investment will improve walking opportunities, wildlife protection on the coast, and will rejuvenate struggling coastal businesses.”

Read the full story on the Grough website

People in North Devon and Somerset are being asked for their opinions on how the coastline should be managed over the next 100 years.

A review of the original Shoreline Management Plan, completed in 1998, is under way.

It aims to help reduce risks to people, property and the historic and natural environment associated with coastal processes such as flooding and erosion. (more…)

The man dubbed East Anglia’s King Canute says he will seek formal planning permission before doing work to repair the DIY sea defences beneath his clifftop home.

Peter Boggis, who lives in Easton Bavents, near Southwold, has spent thousands of pounds building sea defences out of compacted clays at the base of the cliffs near his house.

He was banned from maintaining the defences in December 2005 after a four-year dispute with Waveney District Council over the legality of the structures, for which he never had planning permission. (more…)

Campaigners battling to save flood defences protecting land around a north Suffolk estuary were dealt a fresh blow yesterday as proposals to stop maintaining the mud banks were given the green light.

The Environment Agency announced in September 2007 that it could no longer justify large-scale investment to repair the defences around the Blyth Estuary, near Southwold, in the face of rising sea levels.

It proposed a strategy of managed retreat, which would see the existing walls – protecting land around Walberswick, Southwold, Reydon and Blythburgh – maintained for a maximum of 20 years but with some sections allowed to breach much sooner.

Yesterday, the Environment Agency’s (EA) Eastern Regional Flood Defence Committee agreed to send the final draft of the Blyth strategy to the agency’s National Review Group, which will complete the internal review process before any scheme is finally approved. (more…)

A HUGE £60m transformation of Rossall’s sea defences in Fleetwood has been announced.

Plans have been revealed to replace the concrete sea wall – which was built more than 30 years ago – with a structure to rival the award-winning People’s Promenade at Cleveleys.

Cash for the multi-million pound proposals has already been earmarked in the Environment Agency’s budget for a three-year programme, due to start in 2011. (more…)