Tens of thousands of tonnes of sea defence rock will be shipped to Norfolk’s coast by barge in the run up to Christmas, while a sister operation pumps huge quantities of sand from the seabed to build up the beaches.

The multi-million pound project will beef up and repair both the soft and hard defences around Waxham, Horsey, Winterton, Sea Palling and Eccles as contractors Team Van Oord carry out the work on behalf of the Environment Agency. (more…)

Britain as an island nation is particularly susceptible to coastal erosion. Several communities in one part of Britain, along the north coast of Norfolk, have already seen their homes and businesses washed into the sea.

So can anything be done to combat the action of oceans? And what will the coastlines of world look like in 2050? For One Planet, Mark Whittaker reports.

Listen to the programme on the BBC World Service website

Thousands of homes along England’s coastline are under threat of destruction because of rising sea levels and poorly maintained defences.

Campaigners in Happisburgh, Norfolk - one of the villages at most immediate risk - are now demanding more help for their community.

When Di Wrightson bought her Happisburgh guest house in 1981 with business partner Jill Morris it seemed an idyllic place to live.

Visitors came from far and wide to enjoy the sea views and cream teas served in her garden.

But today Ms Wrightson’s home lies just metres from the cliff edge and will soon be lost all together. (more…)

Al Gore’s Oscar-winning environmental documentary exaggerated the likely effects of global warming on sea levels, a new study shows. (more…)

In an opinion piece by Orrin H. Pilkey, James B. Duke professor of earth science, emeritus, in Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences on newsobserver.com, it’s pointed out that dealing with the impact of potential sea level rise is not limited to the UK:

In the United Kingdom, a highly visible societal debate is going on about how the nation will respond to sea level rise. Environment officials recognize that, from the standpoints of engineering feasibility and costs, the entire coast cannot possibly be defended. So the question boils down to what can be preserved in the rising sea level and what will have to be abandoned. (more…)

According to a press release, the RSPB has been forced to take radical action to save one of its best-loved reserves from the sea. To stave off catastrophe it has decided it must allow the sea to reclaim part of the reserve in order to save the rest.

Under the scheme, the sea wall will be moved back behind the present brackish marsh, which will be allowed to return to tidal saltmarsh. This will allow new and improved sea defences to protect the fresh water marsh and the reedbeds with their precious breeding bitterns from the rising tides. (more…)

The list of unanswered questions is a long one, but at least the debate about compensation has reached the highest level, where it was previously only spoken about in hushed tones. Ed Foss asks - what comes next?

The issue of compensation - often referred to as ’social justice’ - has been on the lips of campaigners and government officials for years, albeit the latter almost exclusively in private. But this is the first time someone in such a high-profile position has aired such views in the public arena.

Lord Smith’s words are to be welcomed in part. After all, his comments raise the issue of compensation higher up the scale than it has ever been.

But they are also difficult to interpret. If there is to be a scheme of compensation, when will it happen, will it be retrospective and who will qualify? And perhaps most importantly, what form will it take - will it meet campaigners’ demands of 100pc of market value, or will the figures be too great for the taxpayer to swallow? (more…)

People faced with losing their homes to coastal erosion or flooding by the North Sea last night welcomed a breakthrough in their fight for financial compensation.

A senior government adviser, the new chairman of the Environment Agency, Lord Smith of Finsbury, yesterday urged the government seriously to consider using taxpayers’ money to re-house those who lose out to the encroaching sea.

It is the first time anyone of such standing has responded to the pleas of homeowners not to be left empty-handed after the sea claims their homes. (more…)

Lord Smith of Finsbury’s comments have also been picked up by the Daily Mail who quote from the Independent article:

While promising to do his ‘level best’ to fund engineering solutions to the problem, Lord Smith warned that all coastal areas could not be saved.

He said: ‘We are almost certainly not going to be able to defend absolutely every bit of coast - it would simply be an impossible task both in financial terms and engineering terms.’

The agency, working with ministers, would have to identify ‘priority areas’ to defend, he said.

Lord Smith suggested that parts of north-east Norfolk and Suffolk faced the greatest threat, according to research by the Agency which will be released in 2009.

In an interview with The Independent, he went on: ‘We will publish next year details of the work that’s been done, where we think the particular threats are, where we think there is current defence in place.

‘We will begin to talk with communities where we think defence is not a viable option.’

He also warned that ministers could no longer rely on insurance companies to cover families who lost their homes , suggesting they would have to be rehoused at the taxpayer’s expense.

His comments will embarrass the government, which in May this year was forced to deny that areas of the Norfolk coastline would be surrendered.

Flooding Minister Phil Woolas said there was ‘no question’ of abandoning seaside villages from Eccles to Winterton if sea levels rise.

Read the full story by Tamara Cohen in the Daily Mail

The story is also picked up in the Guardian, and the Eastern Daily Press

In the Telegraph, Jon Swaine added comments from former Environment Minister, and MP for Suffolk Coastal John Gummer:

Mr Gummer, who has set up Suffolk Coast Against Retreat, a group campaigning for the preservation of vulnerable areas, said: “Chris Smith’s wide ranging speech must be taken seriously. The Government must listen to the concerns of the people of Suffolk and the rest of the East Coast. We want managed defence, not managed retreat. This must not be the first government in history to abandon Britain to the sea.

“Coastal erosion is perhaps the most serious issue that faces the Suffolk Coastal Constituency. We have 74 miles of coastline and all of it is vulnerable.”

Abandon homes to the rising sea, warns Britain’s new environment chief

Stretches of Britain’s coastline are doomed and plans will soon have to be drawn up to evacuate people from the most threatened areas, the new head of the Environment Agency warns today.

In his first interview since taking office, Lord Smith of Finsbury says Britain faces hard choices over which areas of our coast to defend and which to allow the sea to reclaim. He said detailed work was already far advanced on identifying areas of the east and south coasts which were most vulnerable to erosion, and called on ministers to give emergency help to families whose homes will be lost.

Full story by Nigel Morris in the Independent