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…)

The article in the Independent seems to have hit a nerve - here’s a summary of recent comments and reactions: (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…)

Norfolk is to stand firm against the ravages of the ever-encroaching North Sea for at least another half century after the government confirmed £100m will be spent on sea defences over the next 50 years.

People living in vulnerable coastal and low-lying areas of Norfolk breathed a sigh of relief yesterday after environment minister Phil Woolas gave reassurances their homes would not be left to flood.

Responding to worries over a Natural England draft report, which includes the option of allowing a 25sqm area of Norfolk to flood, Mr Woolas said the proposal was “not an option,” and stressed it was the government who drew up sea defence policy not Natural England.

As he visited the county to see the effect of coastal erosion and listen to local concerns Mr Woolas said the government was committed to keeping the sea at bay for at least the next 50 years and pledged £100m of investment in sea defences over that period. (more…)

A campaigner who has been told her house is worth less than a loaf of bread will today try to show the man in charge of the nation’s sea defences the true human cost of the government’s coastal policies.

The bungalow Jane Archer and her partner bought as a happy family home 21 years ago is still 60m from the clifftop, but is now worth just £1.

Today when environment minister Phil Woolas makes a fact-finding visit to north Norfolk over erosion and flooding issues she will be among the people keen to show him the impact of the government policy of abandoning sea defences without any compensation.

“I will tell him he is destroying our lives,” said 49-year-old Ms Archer. “Lots of money is spent by the authorities compensating and finding new habitats for rare birds whose homes are threatened by climate and coastal management changes - but what about people? Are they just going to let my house fall over the edge of a cliff, and leave us with nothing?” (more…)

People who faced losing their homes through the effects of climate change should be compensated, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said yesterday.

He met a handful of people at Happisburgh whose homes have been blighted by sea erosion, then addressed hundreds more at Hickling about the idea to surrender 25 square miles of the broads area to the sea.

Mr Clegg hit out at Natural England, which wrote the report suggesting at least six villages could be sacrificed to the sea as continuing to defend them was too difficult and costly. He said it was an insensitive, cavalier approach to the issue. (more…)

Letter in the Guardian:

When it comes to coastal erosion (Waves of destruction, G2, April 17), unlike most other European countries we don’t have a solidarity fund to compensate people for such natural disasters, and so the last owner is expected to pay when their house is demolished.

To stop a perverse game of beggar-my-neighbour where the unscrupulous try to sell to unsuspecting buyers, we should be leasing such coastal properties from the sea. Any land that is likely to disappear within a century would in effect become leasehold and the time left stated on the title deeds. In addition to a solidarity fund, limited compensation could be paid if such estimates proved to be wrong. The British Geological Survey, which already undertakes coastal surveys, could provide fairly reliable estimates revised every decade for places with cliffs like Happisburgh. This would be rather more problematic further south along the Norfolk coast since a major breach to this narrow barrier could happen any time this century.

Once breached, the northern Norfolk broads and several villages would be lost, and so a proper cost/benefit analysis is urgently required. Coastal defences would interfere with the movement of sediment down the east coast of England and have to be balanced against any likely impacts further down the coast.

David Nowell
Fellow, Geological Society