FEARFUL residents whose homes look set to be lost to coastal erosion have welcomed a £1.2m funding package.

A pilot scheme will see East Riding Council buy homes which are likely to disappear into the sea over the next 15 years.

The local authority will then lease the homes back to their owners giving them time and money to plan for a future move.

Peter Johnson, 66, of Aldbrough, is pleased the council has intervened.

He said: “I am seven houses off the cliff edge. There are a lot of people worried about coastal erosion. To go from no help at all last year to this is a hell of a big step.”

The funding is coming from the Government Pathfinder scheme, aimed at tackling erosion along the Holderness coast.

Residents believed to be at imminent risk will be offered financial help with demolition and restoration costs, as well as relocation.

And those forced to abandon their homes and move into rented accommodation will get half of their rent paid for the first year.

They will also receive a hardship payment and be offered free second-hand furniture and white goods.

Mr Johnson said: “The people I have spoken to are quite shocked.

“Beforehand, residents would get a council house if they were lucky, but would have to pay to move and demolish their home, which could cost more than £3,000.

“So this is great news and I am very pleased those days are gone.”

Residents who live inside or close to the predicted cliff-top erosion line for 2025 will receive an offer on their property from the council.

If a sale is agreed, the council pledges to lease back the property.

Alternatively, homeowners can apply for funding to adapt their properties rather than move out immediately.

The proposals were agreed at East Riding Council’s cabinet meeting.

Residents have been told they should not misinterpret the funding as a compensation package.

Councillor Jane Evison said: “We are very pleased to have received the money and will look at innovative schemes to prepare residents for the effects of coastal change.

“It is not a get rich quick scheme for residents and the buy and lease scheme will be based on market value and what needs to be done to the home.”

Around 55 homes are estimated to be affected by coastal erosion in the next 15 years.

Beverley and Holderness MP Graham Stuart added: “I understand the Government’s reluctance simply to give compensation to homeowners – they knew when they bought their houses that the coast was eroding.

“This will, however, relieve the worry of those affected and allow residents both the time and the cash to make plans for their futures.”

East Riding Council is due to meet with residents.

The funding must be spent by March 2011.

Story in the Hull Daily Mail

Graham Stuart, MP for Beverley and Holderness, is to meet with members of the Humber Estuary Coastal Authorities Group and Environment Agency (Friday Nov 13) following the publication of the draft of the second Shoreline Management Plan (SMP2).

The plan, which covers the coast from Flamborough in the North to Gibraltar Point, Lincolnshire, in the South, sets out how and where the coast will be defended for the next 100 years.

Graham said: “This is a draft plan and it is vital as many people as possible use the consultation period to make their feelings known.

“This plan is an attempt at a compromise. It tries to strike a balance between what can be done and what should be done to either stop the natural processes of erosion or allow them to take their course.

“So it is important residents in my constituency speak up and let the authorities know which parts of this plan are good and which are not.”

Graham has orgainsed the meeting between the East Riding Council, one of the four local authorities involved in the plan, and the Environment Agency. Consultants who put the report together have also been invited.

He said: “This plan will literally shape the Holderness coastline in future decades – it is vital it is right for as many people as possible.”

And he added: “The Holderness coast is a living coastline – it has been since the last Ice Age. It is constantly on the move and we have always known that. The SMP gives everyone along the coast the chance to see, hear and even influence what is going to happen in the future.

“While I fully understand many people will see the entire SMP as a complete waste of money, it must be remembered this is now part of an ongoing process – there will be future SMPs and the more often they happen the better we will all be able to assess what action needs to be taken by future generations.”

Story on the Politics.co.uk website

Beverley and Holderness MP, Graham Stuart, has urged as many Holderness residents as possible to respond to a new Government consultation on coastal change policy.

The consultation looks at how coastal communities can successfully adapt to the impact of coastal change over the next few decades. One of the main issues the Government is keen to look at is the level of assistance afforded to homeowners who are affected by coastal erosion. For example, the consultation asks the following:

• Do you agree that it is appropriate for Government to make available public funds to local authorities to cover demolition costs for which private homeowners are currently liable?
• Is the homeowner assistance package set at the right level to strike the balance between individuals taking responsibility for their investment decisions, and ensuring that local authorities are able to provide practical assistance to homeowners who lose their home as a result of erosion? If not how could this be done?
• How should the payment mechanism for the demolition and moving assistance grant work? What evidence should be provided to Defra to support a claim for demolition and moving costs?

Views are being sought for other ideas on adapting to the effects of coastal change, including:

• How local businesses should be supported
• Adaptation options for important heritage sites on our coastline
• How to plan for changes to roads and other key infrastructure

The consultation also provides details of a new coastal change pathfinder programme which the Government is intending to establish. Bids are to be invited from coastal local authorities interested in becoming coastal change pathfinders. Pathfinders would be able to explore some of the ideas and approaches set out in the consultation.

Graham said: “The Government should be congratulated for finally getting to grips with this issue. Greg Knight MP and Councillors Jonathan Owen and Jane Evison and I have met repeatedly with Ministers to urge them to do more to protect the interests of those who lose their homes and businesses because of coastal erosion.

“At the moment someone who loses their house has to pay the cost of its demolition. This adds insult to injury and can’t be justified. So I am pleased that the Government seems to have accepted our arguments and Ministers have been so willing to listen.

“However, they need to go further than this. We need adequate compensation for the loss of a home if it has previously been defended and is no longer being defended as a result of a change in Government policy.”

The consultation can be viewed by logging onto www.defra.gov.uk

Story in the Driffield Post

FOR YEARS public meetings discussing the issues of coastal erosion, saline flooding and offshore aggregate dredging have attracted regular comments along the lines of “the Dutch would never do it like this”.

But until this week few people have taken the time and effort to visit Holland, speak to the relevant experts and assess the realities.

On Thursday North Norfolk MP Norman Lamb, who chairs the all party parliamentary group on coastal and marine issues, leading Norfolk coastal campaigner Malcolm Kerby and Graham Stuart, a Yorkshire MP who sits as Mr Lamb’s Conservative vice chairman on the same parliamentary group, did just that.

The results of meetings with government and scientific experts were “illuminating and fascinating”, Mr Lamb said yesterday, and opened up a whole new side to the long running debate.

“It was so stark how different the mindset is,” he added.

“One can understand how the approach has come to be different, a substantial amount of their population and economic engine is below sea level and their history has been dominated by the subject of land reclamation.

“But whatever the different culture and history, the overarching point is that the way they treat people in their communities is completely different and there are massive lessons to be learned from that.”

The key differences were:

• The Dutch ban dredging in waters shallower than 20 metres and take a longer term view of the potential impact on erosion rates than the UK government does. The Dutch experts agreed the UK should create a more robust system of assessing dredging licences, as well as conducting more research into the impacts.
• The standard of sea defences is much higher in Holland. While London is theoretically protected to withstand a one in 1,000 year event, Dutch rural areas have a one in 1,250 year event protection, while the urban areas rise to a one in 10,000 year event protection. And this latter figure could rise tenfold.
• The attitude to rising sea levels is one of working out how to deal with the situation rather than backing away from it. Mr Lamb said: “I asked them about a possible one metre rise in sea levels. They said ‘we think we can maintain our defences to deal with that’.”
• Compensation for the loss of Dutch homes to the sea or as a result of projects designed to improve defences is automatic and rests not on legislation but on an assumed responsibility to home and business owners.

“There is a compelling logic to applying the Dutch approach to the UK,” said Mr Lamb.

Mr Kerby said it had been “mind blowing” to get the Dutch view first hand.

“They looked at as quizzically when we asked about what legislation they base their compensation scheme on. It’s simply de rigueur, the right thing to do. There is no need to resort to law.

“There is a tangible feeling of positivity over there, it’s poles apart from this country. The difference is staggering.”

Story in the Great Yarmouth Mercury