WORKS to protect 65 homes in West Wittering from flooding in the future are going ‘full steam ahead’, the Environment Agency has said.

Residents and the community in the Witterings managed to raise an incredible £150,000 to help pay for the defence works.

The homes will be protected by raising the current embankment on the shore with clay. Preparation construction works have started but will not be implemented on the beach until April when birds stop nesting there. (more…)

A NEW online mapping facility shows how at risk Worthing, Shoreham and Littlehampton’s coastlines are from erosion and flooding.

The coastal erosion map was made live on the Environment Agency’s website last week, and allows users to see what changes, if any, there might be to the coastline where they live in the next 15 years.

The map for the South Downs area is one of just two unveiled last week as pilots for this project. It charts the coastline from Beachy Head in the east to Selsey Bill in the west, and predicts any changes to the coastline in our area by 2025 are likely to be “negligible”. (more…)

Large parts of the Sussex coastline will disappear into the sea within 15 years, a Government report has revealed.

A study by the Environment Agency into coastal defences across Sussex highlights more than ten miles of the shoreline which will be lost to erosion.

Newhaven, Seaford and beauty spots such as Birling Gap are all listed as being affected by damage caused by the sea because of a lack of protection.

And the report warns as much as 20 metres of land could be lost in some places by 2025. (more…)

With new online maps communities along the South Downs coast between Beachy Head and Selsey Bill can see how coastal erosion could affect their coastline in future.

Two pilot maps, for the South Downs and Northumberland, were published today by the Environment Agency. The maps were developed in conjunction with local councils and provide information for the public on how coastal erosion could affect where they live for the next 20 years. The maps also show how the coast is being managed and any defences that are in place.

Although few households are at risk from coastal erosion, its consequences can be serious. Better information on coastal erosion will help coastal communities to make more informed decisions about development and adapting to a changing coastline. (more…)

A holiday park in Selsey has put forward plans to make changes to its sea defence works.

Bunn Leisure is privately funding a £15m scheme at West Sands Caravan Park to protect its business and the west side of Selsey.

The original plans were granted planning permission in 2009 but Bunn wants to change the type of rock, profiling and footprint of the breakwaters, as well as change the source of shingle for a beach recharge. (more…)

Seaside residents risk losing their homes to flooding and coastal erosion – for the sake of 20 tiny sea snails.

The owners of 1,350 properties at Pagham Harbour, West Sussex, have been told there is a one in 200 chance their homes will flood every year for the next century.

The warning came after a submerged shingle bank in the harbour was displaced changing the direction of the current towards the shore and eroding the beach.

A plan to redirect the flow of water away from land – which most local people are in favour of – has been thrown into jeopardy after the discovery of a rare snail colony. (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…)

The Environment Agency (EA) wants to hear residents’ views on major new plans to protect hundreds of homes between Emsworth and East Head in West Wittering from flooding.

The aim is to strengthen the coastline where needed at Thorney Island, Southbourne, Nutbourne, Chidham, Bosham, Fishbourne, Birdham and West Itchenor.

The EA is now looking in more detail at this generally low-lying area which includes substantial areas of farmland on reclaimed intertidal marshes. (more…)

FLOOD-HIT farmer Rob Keene has questioned a consultation which appears to ignore the high ground of Gloucester’s massive rubbish dump.

The Environment Agency has released details of its plan to manage flood risk around the River Severn.

But Over farmer Rob, whose land flooded in 2007, says no account has been taken of the huge Hempsted tip site which dominates the landscape south of the Lower Parting. (more…)

AN OPPONENT of plans to create a wetland habitat and flood scheme at Donna Nook claims the community has been “stabbed in the back” after a local authority announced it could not rely on its original grounds for refusal.

East Lindsey District Council has been preparing to be represented at an appeal lodged by the Environment Agency after its plan to create a wetland habitat and flood scheme at Donna Nook was refused last year.

The wetland would see acres of farmland flooded and would compensate for the loss of habitat around the Humber estuary due to coastal squeeze.

But in a U-turn, ELDC said things have since changed which meant its reasons for refusal could not be relied upon to win the appeal. (more…)