Skegness Standard: “Find out how coastal communities will manage flood risk”
Sunday, 1pm – FIND out how the authorities plan to deal with future coastal erosion at the Embassy Centre, Grand Parade, Skegness, on April 2-3.
Authorities including East Lindsey District Council, Lincolnshire County Council, Natural England, and English Heritage are working on the Shoreline Management Plan for the coast between Gibraltar Point, Skegness, to Flamborough Head in Yorkshire.
The plan will look at the risks created by coastal erosion over the next 20, 50 and 100 years and the impact this will have on coastal communities.
ELDC’s planning policy manager Anne Shorland explained: “Its important people living and working on the coast are aware of the plan and what it will mean for them in the future.
“This is an opportune time for the community to become involved and help shape our policies for the future.”
The plan outlines strategies for dealing with different levels of erosion. These range from no intervention, managed realignment which will involve moving the shoreline inwards, holding the line which means maintaining the existing level of defence, or advancing the line which involves building new defences in the sea, especially in areas being considered for land reclaimation.
The report says: “A hold the line policy will be employed for currently defended areas for as long as is practicably possible.
“However, as pressures increase from sea level rise especially, managed realignment may be required to ensure the long-term socio-economic and environmental sustainability of areas that are currently defended.”
Coun Colin Davie, who is on the members’ group for the plan, said: “Lincolnshire’s politicians are committed to the protection of our coastline, our communities and its tourism industry. We are not in the business of giving up one blade of grass or grain of sand to the sea until every option is totally exhausted.
“Those who simply favour abandonment or advancing the line to let the sea in simply do not live in the real world where the people we represent have their lives and finances intrinsically interwoven into life on the Lincolnshire Coast.”
* You can see the report at the Embassy on April 2 and 3 from 1-7pm.
Story by Helen Bell in the Skegness Standard
