SIDMOUTH could cash in on a share of £376,500 awarded to Dorset County Council to fight rising sea levels and coastal erosion caused by climate change.

On Wednesday the Government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) awarded £11 million in grants to local authorities through its Coastal Change Pathfinder competition.

Dorset CC, in partnership with Devon County Council, successfully bid under the banner of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site.

“This is brilliant news for Sidmouth, being the only coastal location identified in Devon, and I believe it may well be possible to draw down the funding to help us come up with a scheme that will be acceptable to everyone that will protect Sidmouth from coastal flooding,” said Councillor Stuart Hughes.

“The challenge is how our communities like Sidmouth will respond to the threat of coastal change, yet remain vibrant and thriving communities. I look forward to the outcomes of this work.”

During a discussion about erosion at Pennington Point at Wednesday’s meeting of East Devon District Council’s executive board, he announced the award and hoped it would help fund periodic surveys of the cliff and beach, at a cost of £10,000 each, and a report appraising the outcomes of a 2001 report, which came up with four options to protect the cliffs.

This report, costing some £40,000, would form part of a submission to Defra seeking funding and approval for a scheme to better protect Sidmouth from continued erosion.

EDDC has no budget for either reports, but the board was in favour of both, accepting a revised report from consultants Royal Haskoning that periodic surveys were needed.

Councillor Peter Halse said erosion was “a serious issue for Sidmouth. While the rock groynes protected the town, there was little doubt there had been an adverse effect on Pennington Point.

Richard Eley, chairman of Sidmouth Chamber of Commerce and Robert Crick, chairman of Sidmouth Vision Group, made representations to the board before its debate.

Mr Eley said if the erosion rates from the 2001 and the latest report were both accurate “then the cliffs at Pennington Point must have grown towards France by 2.58 metres.”

He said the 2001 report’s figures should be discarded, adding: “We really do need to get these figures correct so the decision-making process is properly informed.”

Councillor Graham Liverton, chairman of EDDC, said: “I am beginning to wonder whether the people we had to do this survey are worth their salt. The 2001 report is not worth the paper it is printed on.”

Mark Reilly, head of StreetScene, said: “We need to identify the rates of erosion of the cliffs, which is spasmodic. As an authority we rely on information given from consultants.

“We believe there is a need for regular periodic surveys to monitor cliff erosion.”

Mr Hughes said loss of beach material directly affected cliff erosion.

“If there is no beach material then twice a day the sea bangs the bottom of the cliffs and loosens it.”

He predicted more erosion this winter because of the lack of beach.

EDDC would like other interested parties, such as National Trust, DCC and South West Water to continue to meet to consider future issues affecting Pennington Point.

Story in the Sidmouth Herald