On crumbling coastline from Humberside to Felixstowe they will cheer his name: Peter Boggis, 77, retired engineer and gallant knight battling for the right of all Englishmen to defend their homes against the encroaching sea. Mr Boggis has spent at least £400,000 building clay barriers to defend his house and his hamlet against the North Sea. He has spent another eyewatering sum fighting a legal battle against Natural England, the government body that argued that his defences were unlawful.

It designated his stretch of coastline a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and argued that, as such, it was in the interests of science to allow the ground beneath his home to erode naturally. Yesterday, in the High Court, he won a remarkable victory. Mr Justice Blair rejected the arguments of Natural England on a technicality. Both sides now plan to appeal. (more…)

CONSULTANTS are to be appointed to draw up the detailed proposals for the next multi-million pound sea defence scheme to protect homes at Felixstowe from the sea.

Experts say 525 homes, 99 businesses, the prom, Spa Pavilion and its historic gardens, a coast road and the resort’s main sewer could be at risk of being washed away. (more…)

A retired engineer has won the latest stage of his fight to protect his Suffolk home from falling into the sea.

Natural England wanted fossil-bearing cliffs near Southwold to be allowed to erode raising the prospect that some homes could fall into the sea.

But Peter Boggis, 77, installed his own defences near his Easton Bavents home.

High Court judge Mr Justice Blair ruled Natural England’s decision to permit erosion for “scientific reasons” was unlawful but an appeal can be made. (more…)

A retired engineer who earned the nickname King Canute because of his efforts to save his clifftop home from the sea has won a High Court battle to continue maintaining his local tidal defences.

Peter Boggis, 77, spent tens of thousands of pounds building earth barriers to protect his home at Easton Bavents, near Southwold, Suffolk, and those of his neighbours which are threatened by erosion to the cliffs on they stand.

But Natural England, the Government conservation agency previously known as English Nature, wants the fossil-rich cliffs to wear away, exposing strata of soil and rock for study.

Two years ago, the organisation had the area declared a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) effectively banning Mr Boggis from maintaining the “soft sea defences”. (more…)

FOR YEARS public meetings discussing the issues of coastal erosion, saline flooding and offshore aggregate dredging have attracted regular comments along the lines of “the Dutch would never do it like this”.

But until this week few people have taken the time and effort to visit Holland, speak to the relevant experts and assess the realities.

On Thursday North Norfolk MP Norman Lamb, who chairs the all party parliamentary group on coastal and marine issues, leading Norfolk coastal campaigner Malcolm Kerby and Graham Stuart, a Yorkshire MP who sits as Mr Lamb’s Conservative vice chairman on the same parliamentary group, did just that. (more…)

THE Tory shadow minister for health has pledged to support Scratby residents in their fight to save their homes from being swamped by the sea.

MP Mark Simmonds said during a visit to the village he wanted to end the uncertainty villagers were experiencing over whether sea defences protecting Scratby were going to be bolstered. (more…)

Amenities and properties situated alongside Tenby’s South Beach could face “huge uncertainty” in the future, town councillors were told this week.

Town councillors met with Pembrokeshire County Council’s officer responsible for ‘coastal protection and flood defence’, Mr. Emyr Williams, on Tuesday night, to convey the concerns they have about the erosion of beach. (more…)

Coastal campaigners from Norfolk have had an “encouraging” meeting with the man in charge of the nation’s flood defences.

A group of politicians, councillors from the north and east coasts and residents of seaside and low-lying Broads villages met Environment Agency chairman Lord Smith yesterday.

Afterwards an upbeat North Norfolk MP Norman Lamb said he was very encouraged by the comments they heard. (more…)

ECONOMICALLY important beaches in some populated parts of Devon could be lost to the sea if flood defences are retained over the next 50 years, a report suggests.

Popular coastal resorts such as Teignmouth could lose their miles of golden sand because of tidal erosion if their “hard” sea defences are maintained, according to the Shoreline Management Plan (SMP) for Devon and Dorset. (more…)

RAIL bosses have denied there are any plans to redirect train lines in the short term - but did not rule out the possibility in decades to come.

Network Rail are one of the partners involved with the Shoreline Management Strategy, previewed in Exeter this week.

And, if Exmouth and Dawlish Warren’s seafronts were realigned as part of the plan to improve sea defences along the coast, there were concerns that the train lines - which run parallel to the coastline from Exeter towards Plymouth - would be affected. (more…)