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 £400,000 scheme to protect a vulnerable stretch of Suffolk coastline has finished ahead of schedule.

The second phase of the project at Thorpeness involved nearly 2,000 fabric bags filled with sand and shingle being used to strength the defences.

The defences at the northern end of the village are being reconstructed and strengthened after damage caused by storms in June last year. (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…)

Residents in Shotley have been praised for helping to raise more than £100,000 to protect their coastline.

The Shotley Stour Footpath Renovation Group worked with local councils, businesses and environment groups to arrange the coastal erosion defence.

The group also oversaw the renovation of a picnic area at Shotley Gate. (more…)

A fund worth more than £23.7m for the UK’s coastal communities has been announced by Chancellor George Osborne.

The fund represents half of the gross revenues from the Crown Estate’s marine activities.

The Scottish government has said the announcement does not go nearly far enough in returning money to the areas where it is raised. (more…)

Coastal communities across the region could soon bid for a slice of government money to help rejuvenate their area, it emerged last night.

The chancellor of the exchequer and chief secretary to the treasury will today announce the launch of a Coastal Communities Fund, which will support a wide range of projects.

The multi-million-pound fund is designed to support the economic development of coastal communities and will be available on a bid basis. (more…)

It’s time to wade back into the troubled waters of flood and coastal defence funding in England, because the government unveiled a new plan on Monday. Here’s the headline from the Defra press release:

More flood and coastal defence schemes to go ahead under new funding system

Sounds good right? As regular visitors will know, I have been angered by the glaring contradiction between ministers saying that the risk of flooding is rising due to climate change, and then cutting year-on-year funding by over 25%. Over 1000 schemes that were in line for funding no longer have it.

Of the new arrangement, environment minister Richard Benyon said: “This new funding system means more flood defence schemes will benefit from government money so we can protect more people and properties.” So the new funding system means more government money, you’re thinking. You’re wrong. There is no new money to alleviate the risks of floods devastating people’s homes and businesses. (more…)

From a press release on the DEFRA website:

More flood and coastal erosion defence projects across England will receive government money each year under a new funding system announced today.

The new system provides money based on the benefits each project delivers to homes, businesses, agricultural land and infrastructure. Many schemes will still receive full Government funding, whilst others will qualify for a contribution to the final cost.  In many cases this government contribution will be worth 80 to 90 per cent of the full scheme cost.

This will replace the current model where schemes applying for money are typically either funded in full by Government or not at all. (more…)

Power to decide how best to protect crumbling coastal land will be given to local communities, the chairman of the Environment Agency (EA) has pledged.

Lord Smith, who was the guest speaker at the annual general meeting of the Suffolk Coast Against Retreat (SCAR) group at the Jubilee Hall in Aldeburgh on Saturday, has, however, warned that people would need to need to come up with money and well as “imaginative” ideas as government budgets for flood defence projects are squeezed.

The former cabinet minister told landowners, local councillors and representatives of coastal groups that the EA was committed to cutting bureaucracy and enabling defence schemes – and he offered a personal pledge to investigate failings.

“The ‘we know best’ approach doesn’t wash these days,” he said. “There will be times when we don’t get it right, and if you experience that, then come to me.” (more…)

A stretch of Suffolk and Essex coastline could be transformed into grazing and sea marches as part of a managed way to tackle rising sea levels.

Plans put forward by the Environment Bank and Environment Agency would see businesses pay to offset their green impacts, with the funding used to manage coastal areas.

For the past four years, the Environment Bank has been refining a delivery model for the UK in consultation with central government, NGO’s, developers, landowners, farmers and local authorities.

Now the Shell Foundation has agreed to provide funding and internal expertise for the next year to allow a trial scheme to go-ahead. (more…)