COMMUNITIES across Morecambe Bay are reacting to a coastal plan which outlines how the changing shoreline should be managed in future.Rising tides could threaten homes, farmland, natural habitats and a local nature reserve and South Lakeland District Council has been working on a plan of action to protect vulnerable areas.

The draft Shoreline Management Plan outlines proposals for action along the North West coast over the next 100 years as the risk of flooding and erosion increases. (more…)

From Building Design:

British cities near the coast are at risk of extreme flooding with urgent action needed now to protect them, the RIBA and the Institution of Civil Engineers have claimed.

A new report by the two organisations urges the government, built environment professionals, planning authorities and the public to focus on devising radical solutions including the building of flood defenses or floating or stilted buildings.

The report, called Facing up to Rising Sea Levels: Retreat, Defend, Attack?, focuses on Kingston upon Hull and Portsmouth and presents six scenarios up to 90 years in the future, proposing three main approaches to tacking extreme flooding – retreat, defend or attack. (more…)

North Norfolk District Council (NNDC) has been awarded a grant of £3 million to develop new ways of managing the impacts of coastal change on our coastal communities.  This comes from the Coastal Change Fund announced in the Government’s Coastal Change Policy.

• Find out more about the North Norfolk Pathfinder

Villagers in Hopton are hoping a beach monitoring study by outer harbour operators EastPort will lead to action over their fast-depleting sands.

Another winter has gnawed even more out of the resort’s beach, now reduced to a shingly stretch with exposed sheet piling on the doorstep of popular holiday resorts.

Meanwhile beaches either side are faring differently with Gorleston’s getter bigger all the time and Corton’s virtually gone, complicating the picture. (more…)

Four Lancashire dairy farms covering 1035 acres could disappear under the sea if the Environment Agency gives the go ahead for a shoreline management plan along the coast of Morecambe Bay.

The scheme, which will affect 10 farms in total and destroy 17 properties and four large caravan parks, is part of a review of sea defences along a stretch of north-west coastline south of Lancaster. The current sea-wall embankment runs for about five miles.

One of the farms that would be lost is John and Brenda Lawson’s Bank End Farm at Cockerham, which stands virtually on the shoreline of Morecambe Bay. This highly productive dairy farm carries around 350 cows.

“It’s unbelievable that someone has come up with a plan that will mean our farms and the future of our families will disappear under the sea and none of us has received a letter or a phone call so that we could at least be represented at the [planning] meetings,” said Mrs Lawson. (more…)

COUNCILLORS have criticised the plan that will determine how the shoreline will be managed in the long-term future, claiming it does not propose enough action against coastal flooding.

Doubts were expressed over the suitability of the Shoreline Management Plan when the draft copy was put to South Lakeland District Council’s overview and scrutiny committee when it met this week in Kendal.

The plan identifies the policies for managing coastal risks in the north west for up to 100 years from now.

But councillors on the committee told Tuesday’s meeting they were unhappy with the content of the plan, which is out to public consultation. (more…)

One of north Norfolk’s major landowners has voiced “real concerns” about long-term plans aimed at managing the impact of climate change along its coastal borders.

Senior Environment Agency (EA) planners are finalising an updated shoreline management plan (SMP) for the 75km stretch of coast from Hunstanton to Kelling.

A four-month public consultation on the draft ideas was completed in November with feedback due to be taken into account before final plans are presented to councils for adoption in March.

But a response from the Holkham Estate raises concern about the impact on farmland and freshwater habitats and says the consultation should be extended to allow direct dialogue on any changes made. (more…)

Houses on stilts, floating communities and returning urban areas to saltmarsh should all be considered as part of radical approaches to tackling the threat posed to coastal cities by flooding, a report suggested today.

The study by the Royal Institute of British Architects’ think tank Building Futures and the Institution of Civil Engineers warned that the UK’s 12,000km (7,500 miles) of coastline would be increasingly at risk of floods.

Rising sea levels, sinking landmass in the south and increased storminess will all put coastal towns and cities at risk, and planners will need to decide how to tackle the threat.

At-risk areas could cope with the risk of flooding by retreating inland and allowing water to flood parts of the city, defending urban sites in innovative ways or “attacking” the problem, for example by building out into the water. (more…)

Could it be salvation for Norfolk – or is it cloud cuckoo land?

A massive wall built out at sea and linking Great Yarmouth to Happisburgh, enclosing dozens of square miles of water and turning it into a freshwater haven for wildlife and tourism, could be the answer to some of the climate change challenges facing Norfolk and the northern Broads.

The idea has been put forward by Mike Evans, who has held a series of high-profile posts in the boating world, such as chairman of the Royal Yachting Association, and is the current president of the Norfolk and Suffolk Boating Association and a representative of private boat owners at the Broads Authority. (more…)

Low-lying coastal areas could get no investment in their sea defences as the government draws up a 100-year plan to ‘prioritise’ flood protection.

The Environment Agency is set to release a blueprint next month for how a 240 mile stretch of coastline along the Solent will be protected over the next century.

The proposals, from Hurst Spit in the west to Selsey Bill in the east, will detail how much funding is likely to be given to different sections of coastline. (more…)