A COUNCIL has pledged to seek more funding to help communities affected by coastal erosion amid fears it may lose the support of residents when money for an innovative aid project dries up next month.

A £1.2m scheme funded by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is due to end in March, and East Riding Council, which administers it, said it was determined to explore other sources of finance to assist some of the most exposed households in England.

All of the money in the East Riding Coastal Change Pathfinder project (ERCCP) has now been allocated to households in the Aldbrough, Cowden, Hornsea, Skipsea, Tunstall and Ulrome areas, and 35 of them have been helped adapt to the impact of “coastal change”.

The scheme has also funded the demolition of 43 dangerous structures and properties. (more…)

THE PIER extensions may in future be protected by rock armour as part of a new strategy to safeguard the Whitby coast.

Stewart Rowe, Scarborough Borough Council’s principal coastal officer, gave a presentation at a full meeting of Whitby Town Council (6 Dec) about work that is taking place to create a new coastal defence strategy.

In this presentation he suggested that to completely repair all of Whitby’s sea defences, including the harbour, would cost around £80m. (more…)

ONE of Yorkshire’s most popular attractions could be at risk from devastating landslips unless action is taken to repair a sea wall, it has been claimed.

The Yorkshire Post reported yesterday that councillors in Scarborough will next week examine plans for a new 1.1 metre (3.6ft) sea wall around a stretch of the resort’s South Bay designed to protect the area from the ravages of the North Sea and the incre,asing risks of climate change.

However, the scheme will also play a key part in stabilising the cliff behind the famous Scarborough Spa complex which attracts tens of thousands of visitors each year. (more…)

AN academic is hoping to establish that understanding and predicting coastal erosion is as clear as mud.

Hull University Professor Daniel Parsons has been awarded a grant to begin a three-year study of mudlfats in the Dee and Humber estuaries.

Climate change could change the way sediments are moved around by water currents and Prof Parsons will assess how this change could impact on estuaries and coastlines. (more…)

HUNDREDS of properties in Scarborough’s North Bay could be at risk unless vital work is carried out to bolster the existing sea wall defences, it has been claimed.

A recent inspection revealed the need for “urgent” emergency work to be carried out to stabilise sections of the sea wall to prevent breaches of the defences.

Many large hotels and residential properties would be under threat if the wall failed. Scarborough Council’s Cabinet agreed to accept £87,000 from the Environment Agency for the project and will appoint consultants to investigate to best way to carry out the vital work. (more…)

AS their sea-view homes creep perilously towards a cliff-edge, residents at a private retirement estate say they have endured a “two-year hell” cloaked by uncertainty.

Now they have a whole new battle on their hands after dismissing land put forward for the relocation of 15 bungalows at Knipe Point near Scarborough as a “glorified council estate”.

In a final draft report which has been exclusively obtained by the Yorkshire Post, five parcels of land have been short-listed as preferred sites for the relocation of the homes which are deemed to be the most at risk. (more…)

SURVEYS to pave the way for a major overhaul of Scarborough’s crumbling sea defences, one of the most ambitious schemes of its kind in the country, are taking place this month.

The Geotechnical surveys are being undertaken in Scarborough’s South Bay to provide information for a proposed multi-million pound scheme to improve the sea defences around the town’s historic Spa complex.

The investigation is the latest stage in a three-year study being funded by a grant from the Environment Agency. (more…)

Scientists are carrying out the first ever seabed survey of the East Yorkshire coast.

The latest technology is being used to produce an accurate map of the area between Flamborough and Spurn Point.

Coastal engineers will use the data to help them take more cost-effective, preventative action to combat coastal erosion. (more…)

A COUPLE being forced out of their home by coastal erosion have welcomed a £400,000 underwater study into the problem.

Ray and Paula Kaye are on the brink of leaving their seaside property.

But Mr Kaye, 72, hopes investigations being carried out on the seabed between Spurn Point and Flamborough might help others in the same situation. (more…)

A RETIRED couple fear they will lose their home to coastal erosion – for a second time.

Dave and Anne Willies have already once forked out thousands to knock down and rebuild their home further back from the sea in Waxholme, near Withernsea.

Now, the pair have been told that, despite being 35 metres from the retreating cliff edge, they do not qualify for a £1.2 million scheme to help people threatened by coastal erosion. (more…)