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…)

PLANS to stop flooding at a problem spot on the A12 between Ipswich and Lowestoft have been boosted by a Government minister.

Suffolk County Council is looking to alleviate flooding on the main road at Blythburgh, where the road meets the River Blyth, and is proposing to install a sluice to manage tidal flow in the area.

The road is liable to flooding during heavy rainfall and fears were heightened when the Environment Agency announced it could not continue to maintain defences along the Blyth estuary indefinitely.

Major delays on the road cause huge inconvenience for people and businesses in the area, as well as damaging economic prosperity.

The county council secured a £1.8million grant to deal with the problem and had considered 
raising the road but is now going to “develop the option” of installing a sluice. (more…)

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, that is the government’s cuts to flood and coastal defence spending. I need your help to reveal the impact the cuts will have on new defences because, as it stands, just weeks from the new financial year, no one knows.

Below, I’ll relate the farcical example of the funding for the proposed coastal defences in Felixstowe town and how the Prime Minister, David Cameron, appears to be more worried by flooding abroad than at home. But first let’s consider the byzantine and opaque way in which defence projects get the go-ahead.

Life is too short to go into the details here, but in brief the Environment Agency sends a list of “indicative allocations” to the relevant regional committees, suggesting the possible funding outcomes for proposed projects. Many of these projects have had years of preparatory work done and boast cost-benefit ratios of 5-to-1 or better. What follows the sending of the lists is lots of back and forth before the EA board decides which projects get funded. (more…)

OVER £6 million has been allocated to Scarborough Borough Council (SBC) to be spent on coastal risk management projects over the next four years – but only £500, 000 has been earmarked for Whitby.

The biggest chunk of funding, from the Environment Agency, is just over £3 million which has been allocated to SBC for the Strategic Coast Monitoring programme because it is the lead authority for all the coastal councils from the Scottish borders to Flamborough Head.

Over the next five years that money will be used to continue the coastal monitoring and data collection along the north east coast region. (more…)

A groundbreaking policy to help beleaguered Suffolk homeowners who face losing their homes to coastal erosion is to be formalised next week.

On Wednesday, Waveney District Council is to set in stone a lands right move promise for people in Corton and Easton Bavents.

Once ratified, people who face losing their property to Mother Nature over the next 20 years can move to safe land nearby and still keep residential land use so they can build similar properties if they follow relevant planning law.

Businesses will also be able to relocate in similar arrangements. (more…)

A PLAN to safeguard our coastline from rising sea levels was approved by councillors.

The Shoreline Management Plan is expected to last 100 years and ensure industry and homes are protected.

North East Lincolnshire Council cabinet members welcomed the plan. (more…)

An incredible £648,605 has been raised by the community to help pay for sea defence works in West Wittering – but now the work may not go ahead.

It has been predicted the existing sea wall in the village could crumble within ten years and leave 55 homes vulnerable to flooding if new defences aren’t built.

The Environment Agency (EA) advised the West Wittering Flood Action Group last November that if £600,000 could be raised within a month, it stood a good chance of getting funding from government.

But with government cuts and so many other projects now competing for money, the future protection of homes from flooding is still not secure. (more…)

Up to 1500 homes along the Ouse Valley could be abandoned to rising river and sea levels.

The Environment Agency has come up with a flood defence scheme – but it thinks it will be “very difficult” to convince government to find the millions needed.

The Agency is already maintaining shingle defences at Seaford – but more problems lie inland.

The banks of the river Ouse are crumbling and need to be built higher as water levels rise over time. (more…)

Plans to protect 1,500 homes on the East Sussex coast from flooding have been put out for consultation.

The Environment Agency wants to maintain defences along the River Ouse and coastline between Newhaven and Seaford as sea levels rise.

Spokesman Mark Douch said the possibility of restoring a floodplain near Newhaven had been investigated.

But he said that would cause extra water to flow through Newhaven, increasing erosion to river defences. (more…)

Work to strengthen a seaside town’s flood defences is to get under way at a cost of £30m.

On Monday work will begin to knock down and replace Redcar’s sea wall which has been crumbling for years.

The Environment Agency said the new wall would stretch from Coatham to the Stray and was expected to combat coastal erosion for 100 years.

It will take two years to complete and will protect 1,000 homes and 200 businesses from flooding. (more…)