People living in homes along Norfolk’s coast under threat of destruction have been offered compensation.

It follows talks between North Norfolk District Council and owners of the homes in Beach Road, Happisburgh.

The money will come from the Pathfinder scheme, to help communities and compensate households. (more…)

Householders whose doomed homes are perched on the edge of Happisburgh’s crumbling cliff have finally struck sales deals and can start new lives elsewhere – ending more than a decade of uncertainty.

Demolition could begin in May on most of the at-risk homes along Beach Road and North Norfolk District Council (NNDC) chiefs say that by the summer Happisburgh will have a new look and facilities to welcome visitors.

Leading campaigner Malcolm Kerby said the agreements, revealed in an NNDC report today, represented a fresh beginning for Happisburgh which would have “knock-on benefits all round.” (more…)

An erosion-hit seaside village is set to get a new tourist car park, toilet block, and beach access ramp.

Plans are afoot to move Happisburgh’s car park from Beach Road to another clifftop site to the east in a £290,000 project.

The new site, also off Beach Road where 16 homes have been lost to erosion over the years, is designed to be able to retreat and adjust as the coastline changes. (more…)

Erosion-threatened clifftop residents demanded “social justice” after a Norfolk council agreed a possible compensation deal that they branded “insulting”.

North Norfolk District Council agreed a plan to buy 10 homes in most danger on Beach Road at Happisburgh for demolition and offer the homeowners 40-50pc of the value of their homes if they were inland and not at risk from coastal erosion.

Councillors said it was “the best we can do” and pledged to “continue to lobby and campaign” for a better deal.

But angry campaigners called on the council to give them nothing less than 100pc to enable them to “move on” and rebuild their blighted lives. (more…)

Residents of a row of doomed clifftop homes in north Norfolk are still waiting to get firm compensation offers for their erosion-threatened properties.

A package of help through a government-backed scheme has been deferred over concerns the likely compensation figures of 40-50pc of the theoretical value will not offer enough to the affected people.

But while the local council says it is doing what it can within strict constraints, campaigners are calling for the deal to be the best possible – because it sets a precedent for other coastal communities in Norfolk and across the nation. (more…)

Campaigners pushing for compensation to be given to owners of clifftop homes at Happisburgh have said that the amount being offered under new proposals is still nowhere near enough – despite the plans being given a green light at a council meeting.

The plans to buy 10 properties most in danger on Beach Road at Happisburgh for demolition and offer the homeowners between 40pc and 50pc of the theoretical value of their homes if they were inland and not at any risk from coastal erosion, were approved by North Norfolk District Council’s cabinet on Monday.

But the decision has angered campaigners, who say nothing less than 100pc should be offered. (more…)

On the face of it, any cash offer for homes which were once considered to be worth close to nothing because they are at imminent risk from coastal erosion must be a bonus. But here leading coastal campaigner MALCOLM KERBY explains why he feels the 40pc to 50pc of market value offer likely for a set of homeowners in Happisburgh, reported on the EDP’s front page on Saturday, is simply not up to scratch.

“At the level quoted, which is 40pc to 50pc of no-risk market value, people will not be able to move on uninjured.

It is clear that something is better than nothing and perhaps many people will misunderstand what appear to be negative comments on the matter from me.
(more…)

Owners of clifftop homes at Happisburgh are just weeks away from receiving precedent setting cash offers for their threatened properties, potentially bringing a lengthy compensation saga to an end.

North Norfolk District Council has put forward a plan to offer a dozen homeowners between 40pc and 50pc of the theoretical value of their homes if they were inland and not at any risk from coastal erosion.

Council leaders said yesterday the offer was “a very important breakthrough” which was both sustainable and reliable – and could have impacts nationally if the model was adopted at government level.

People losing their homes to coastal erosion have previously faced a future with no compensation for the loss. (more…)

Coastal residents have called for more help in tackling erosion before they back a new shoreline management strategy.

A straw poll among 100 people who attended a meeting at Happisburgh voted to reject the latest SMP between Kelling and Lowestoft, because revisions did not go far enough to compensate the communities affected by cutting back on sea defences.

The key aim of the meeting held on Friday was to see what people felt about the newly revised draft SMP for the section of coast between Lowestoft and Kelling, drawn up in consultation by North Norfolk District Council, Great Yarmouth Borough Council, Waveney District Council and the Environment Agency. (more…)

The three main parties have given their views on tackling the problems of coastal erosion along the Norfolk and Suffolk coast.

Last year, proposals to protect the port of Felixstowe and other major towns were put forward by the Environment Agency.

However, Suffolk could still lose the village of Covehithe and 1,000 acres (400 hectares) of farmland as part of a “managed retreat”.

In the Norfolk village of Happisburgh a coastguard station is under threat as the cliff edge it is located near has eroded by 20ft (6.1m) in a decade. (more…)