NEW national seashore defence policies could mean major changes for two Torbay beaches.

Before Torbay Council adopts the latest version of the shoreline management plan to meet climate change predictions, it is to consult about the future of Goodrington Sands North and Broadsands.

The latest version of the government’s plan proposes not fighting the sea but allowing a ‘managed retreat’ inland to create new beaches.

In some places the waves will be allowed to erode as they will.

Council chief executive Elizabeth Raikes told a meeting of the Cabinet: “We have to make it clear there are limits on changes we can make. It’s about explaining to the community what reasonably can be done.”

The meeting heard that unless the council accepted the policy it would find it harder to get Government cash for sea defence projects.

Goodrington councillor Christine Carter said she was alarmed by the ‘managed retreat’ proposal.

“You cannot be serious,” she said.

“I cannot believe that you would allow Goodrington North to flood.”

She said there had been no consultation in the ward or with businesses around the beach.

“They’re in the dark about this,” she said. “Businesses have invested a lot of money in this area.

“Were they warned that in 50 years time there would be a managed retreat? “Would they have put money in there if they knew that?

“I think not.”

Regeneration councillor Chris Lewis insisted: “This is scare-mongering. Managed retreat means it will be managed. We are not going to flood these beaches.

“Nowhere in these documents does it say we will flood those areas.”

Drainage engineer Dave Stewart said the assessment had been produced by experts.

“Providing it’s feasible and technically possible to do it, the idea is to move the seawall back in 20 to 50 years to create a beach,” he said.

“If it’s not possible, the policy is to revert to holding the present line of defence.”

A spokesman for the Environment Agency said: “It’s important to remember these changes will not take place immediately — that is, not for at least 20 years and possibly not for 50 years.”

No final decision would be taken without significant public consultation, he said.

Changes to the climate are expected to result in more and stronger storms and bigger and more destructive waves hitting the shoreline.

The rate of erosion is such that if predictions for change come true, within the next 50 to 100 years the low tide level will be above the present beach level.

Water will always lap at the sea defences and there will be no large beaches anywhere in the Bay.

This erosion of levels will happen at all of the Bay beaches but, apart from Goodrington North and Broadsands, other sea defences are protecting roads, sewers, property or other valuable assets.

While the hard defences at Paignton, Preston, and Torquay will have to be strengthened to stop the waves, at Goodrington and Broadsands it may be more cost-effective to let the sea have its way in a controlled manner and create two beaches.

At today’s prices it could cost £20million to £30million to build a new seawall inside the existing one and breach the old defences.

Story in the South Devon Herald Express.

But now this destructive climate cycle has left the shores crumbling and communities fearing they could be lost under water forever.

After years of protecting the shoreline, local authorities could wave the white flag at mother nature as they consider leaving the future of the Lancashire coastline in the hands of the gods.

Lancaster City Council is working with the North West England and North Wales Coastal Group, the Environment Agency and other organisations to draw up a Shoreline Management Plan (SMP), to establish the best way to manage the changing coast, now and for future generations.

Plans are to either to maintain the current coastal defences or allow the defences to weaken and let swathes of agricultural land turn to marshland.

Up to 10 farms and 17 properties could be destroyed and four large caravan parks in the Cockerham and Thurnham areas are at risk as environment bosses review the sea defences along the shoreline of Morecambe Bay.

The SMP options include maintaining current defences, realigning the coastline in a managed way or no active intervention.

The plan suggests studies into realignment in the Thurnham, Overton and Lune Estuary areas, which would lead to a new waterline being created inland.

In the Knott End Golf Course and Sunderland Village areas the plan suggests a ‘no active intervention’ policy, leaving nature to take its course.

Brenda Lawson, who lives at Bank End Farm, Cockerham, is one of the residents who would be affected by the plans. She is so concerned she has started a campaign group to put forward alternatives to the Environment Agency.

She says: “We farm 230 acres and have done since the 1930s. All our farm would go into the sea. It would be a considerable loss of livelihood.

“The top and bottom of it is money. They are saying it would cost £12m to maintain this stretch of coastline for 100 years, but they are maintaining they could build a new defence further back for £6m.

“But that is just the cost of building it. There is no compensation for the people who own the land they are going to build on.”

Up to 1035 acres of farmland could revert to marsh land, including the Cockerham Sands Country Park.

Director Kate Bateson says: “It is a concern of ours but it is very early days. It would affect the local economy. If they decided there would be no action taken like they have at Sunderland Point, we would be cut off.”

A decision not to fight the ebbing tide at the windswept peninsula could mean Sunderland Point could be lost to the sea.

The historic village was used as a port for slave ships and cotton ships but its importance declined as other ports such as Lancaster developed.

During high tides the village is already cut off from neighbouring Overton when the single track road that links the two becomes flooded. But if the defences are not maintained it could be lost forever, as the waters encroach on the land.

Coun Jon Barry, cabinet member with responsibility for the environment at Lancaster City Council, said: “We are not able to protect all coastal homes, businesses, land and wildlife habitats from coastal erosion and flooding.

“But with (the community’s] help, we will know where these risks are greatest and set out effective ways to manage these in a sustainable way.”

Pete Fox, the flood and coastal risk manager for the Environment Agency North West, added: “It’s really important that local communities work with the Environment Agency, Local Authorities and others to produce the shoreline management plans and coastal erosion risk maps.

“This will ensure we all get the best possible outcomes for people and the environment in the area and beyond.”

Graham Lymbery, chairman of the North West England and North Wales Coastal Group, says: “Climate change and sea level rise will mean that protecting our coast from flooding and erosion will become harder in the future. This means making tough decisions.”

Story in the Lancashire Evening Post

THERE’S a clue in the name Langport; the town did indeed once have a port, even though it is situated more than a dozen miles from the sea – and could be renewing its maritime links in the not too distant future if climate change experts meeting in Copenhagen last week are right.

Scientists now believe that global warming will have far more profound consequences on sea levels than had previously been estimated – they are predicting that the planet’s oceans will rise by more than a metre by the end of this century, rather than the half-metre increase they had been working on.

Not only will this have an acute significance for individual communities located at present-day sea levels, but entire areas of the South West peninsula will be in the firing line when it comes to widespread coastal flooding.

The national media habitually turns its focus on London, the Thames Basin and places like the Norfolk Broads in the east of the UK – but the increasing tides will have huge ramifications for the Westcountry, as is outlined in an official document which has been passed to the WMN.

“Climate is already changing – that much is certain,” writes the Environment Agency’s (EA) Kylie Russell, who is the organisation’s climate change and energy officer in the Westcountry. “This will lead to rising sea levels and increased flooding. The South West region has a very long coastline and as such is extremely vulnerable to rising sea levels.”

Suddenly even places like Langport, situated deep in the Somerset Levels, 12 miles inland from the nearest ocean wave, look worryingly vulnerable.

But not nearly as vulnerable as Bridgwater, located downstream on the banks of the tidal River Parrett. That town of just under 40,000 souls now looks to be the largest community in the region that is under direct threat from climate change. So much so that the chairman of a new body set up to regenerate the town is demanding a Thames-style barrage be built to protect it.

Bridgwater Challenge Project board chairman Anthony Gibson told the WMN: “The news from Copenhagen reinforces the need to protect Bridgwater and its 11,000 homes from flooding. At the moment this has been put at a 1-in-200-year risk – but the odds on it happening are shortening all time.

“You can give Bridgwater complete protection by building a mini surge barrier – and that would protect us at a cost of £40 million. This protection is an essential precondition for what the regeneration project is doing – a regeneration that could create thousands of new jobs in the town. But we need protection from the floods.”

Meanwhile, perhaps ominously for Mr Gibson and the people of Bridgwater, the EA is overseeing a so-called “managed retreat” at Steart, out at the western mouth of the River Parrett.

Managed retreat is a polite way of bowing to inevitability. It’s a way of saying: “Look at what happened to King Canute.” And it occurs when there’s a realisation that you can’t beat nature, no matter how hard you try.

There will undoubtedly be a great deal in the way of managed retreat here in the Westcountry in the next 100 years.

“There are 14,700 properties in Devon and Cornwall that are currently known to be at flood risk from the sea,” says Steve Marks, the EA’s team leader for flood incident management in the region. “The numbers of properties at risk from flooding, inundation and erosion will increase due to the expected impacts of climate change.

“These impacts include sea-level rise, increased frequency and severity of storms causing storm surges (i.e. a higher sea level caused by a combination of low pressure and wind action), and waves generated by these storms.

“To put this into context, two of the most severe coastal flooding events in Devon and Cornwall occurred in October 2004 and March 2008 when a 0.5- 0.75 metre storm surge coincided with high (autumn and spring equinox) tides.

“Tides of this height could be normal with future predicted sea-level rise. When further exacerbated by storm surges of increased severity and frequency the impacts will be much higher,” said Mr Marks.

To put that in modern parlance, we’re in for a double-whammy. More ferocious storms occurring more often will help push the tides and waves even higher than the much-feared basic rise in sea levels.

That particular scenario is likely to be at its worst in Cornwall – the highly exposed county that juts furthest into the ocean. But other double-whammy events will hit other parts of the coast in our region. Take, for example, the massive landslides that have become a feature of the East Devon/West Dorset coast – they could become a lot more common in the future, according to the EA’s coastal engineer in the area, Neil Watson.

“High levels of ground water can help cause these landslides and when you combine that with a higher wave action causing new erosive forces to bear along cliffs then you have an increased risk.”

Mr Watson also talked of a possible inundation of West Dorset’s famous Chesil Beach. “It has been breached before,” he said. “There was a storm in 1824 when vessels were washed right over the top – and certainly increased storminess might be a thing that affects Chesil Beach more.”

But, of course, it is in areas of human habitation most damage will occur. You only have to take a quick trip around the Westcountry coast to work out the at-risk areas.

West of the River Parrett and Somerset Levels you reach the West Somerset coastal plain from Blue Anchor to Minehead. It’s reckoned that, a long time ago, waves used to lap the base of Dunster Castle’s hill, now a mile inland – a metre tide rise would help them do so again. It would also turn a seaside holiday at Europe’s largest holiday camp into an altogether different experience – Minehead’s Butlins would be in the sea rather than beside it.

Further west, we come to the Taw and Torridge delta – a vast landscape of dunes and flatness stretching all the way upstream to Barnstaple. You will require a float-plane in order to land on Chivenor’s airbase’s runway in 100 years’ time.

Along the north coast of Cornwall, EA engineers have worries about the Camel Estuary, where inundations could hit Padstow and Wadebridge. And west again there are concerns for the low- lying parts of the Hayle estuary basin.

But perhaps the most worrying place to live in 2100 will be in the once hugely desirable Isles of Scilly.

A one-metre sea rise would wipe out most of the archipelago’s capital Hugh Town, half of which – including the main street – is built on a sand spit that connects the main island of St Mary’s with the hill that houses the old Garrison. When you add increased storm surges and bigger waves to the rise in overall tides, the beautiful but low-lying archipelago looks very exposed indeed.

Back along the mainland’s south coast, we come to Penzance and its neighbouring Marazion Marshes, at present protected by a low sea wall that could easily be breached by such tidal rises.

Out along the Lizard peninsula, the National Trust has already announced the future demise of Mullion Harbour, but there are also fears for Cornwall’s largest freshwater lake. Loe Bar, the shingle ridge protecting Loe Pool, could easily be breached, so that one day Helston might again have a harbour just like it did centuries ago.

Tregony, high up the Fal estuary, is another ancient harbour town that hasn’t seen a wave or a boat of any size for hundreds of years. By the end of this century, they might be considering building a marina there. Even Truro city centre, located in the same estuary system, could find itself looking more like Venice than anything built on Cornish granite.

Future developments in the Par area would be better adapted if they were to be built on stilts – and the same could be said for homes in various low-lying parts of the Tamar estuary. South Devon folk at present trying to protect the A379 road that traverses Slapton Sands will be regarded as brave but hopeless heroes in a century’s time. By then, combers will be crashing into lower Slapton village, while the lagoon called The Ley and the village of Torcross will be but distant memories.

The Exe estuary will suffer a plethora of problems – not least caused by the possible disappearance of not one, but two, railways. Although, by 2100 it is likely that the Great Western line which continues around the coast to Dawlish and Teignmouth will be history. The tram line at Seaton will also have become another memory after the entire Axe estuary basin fills with salt water.

That’s a basic round-up of what increased sea levels could mean to this region. In light of which, it’s perhaps wise to reflect upon the words of Kylie Russell, who ends her report on climate change in the region thus: “We need to adapt our way of life so that we can be prepared for the inevitable and unavoidable effects of climate change.”

Story in the Western Morning News

Proposals to realign coastal defences and surrender part of a nature reserve to the sea look set to get the go ahead.

RSPB wardens have applied for planning permission to allow some of the sea wall at Titchwell Marsh, near Hunstanton, to be breached.

They existing defences are prone to being overwhelmed by storm surges, which would lead to a “catastrophic loss of habitat” for rare birds including the bittern and bearded tit.

But by allowing controlled flooding on parts of the site, brackish lagoons would become salt marsh and provide a barrier for more important freshwater pools and reedbeds further inland.

A report to councillors says: “In the face of decades of coastal erosion (the wearing away of coastal habitats by wave action and tides), the RSPB has worked to maintain its internationally-important reserve at Titchwell Marsh for as long as possible.

“However, the RSPB recognises that, with changing coastal processes and rising sea levels, a new approach is now required.”

Up to 85,000 people a year visit the marsh, which is one of the RSPB’s most-visited reserves. A spokesman for the society, which began improving habitats after buying the site in 1974, said: “The plans are really exciting, there’s a great opportunity for Titchwell.”

West Norfolk councillors have been recommended to approve the plans, subject to a prior archaeological investigation.

Relics such as flints dating back to 8,000BC and beyond have been found in the area. They date back to the time when Titchwell was up to 100 miles inland, with much of the North Sea a great plain.

Further out into The Wash, the remains of an ancient forest are sometimes exposed on the lowest spring tides.

Councillors meet to discuss the plans on March 2. If planning permission is granted work is likely to begin in the autumn.

Meanwhile, the RSPB hopes the recent cold snap has not harmed Britain’s bitterns. With up to 11 booming males, East Anglia is one of the rare wader’s few remaining strongholds.

Numbers dwindled to as few as 11 breeding pairs across the whole country in the late 1990s. Now there are nearly 80 but scientists are warning some of the secretive birds, which hide deep in reedbeds, could have succumbed to sub-zero temperatures.

RSPB spokeswoman Erica Howe said: “There is evidence that some bitterns have suffered this winter meaning that there could be a shortfall this summer when the breeding season comes back around.”

Story by Chris Bishop in the Eastern Daily Press

MORE than 60 acres of nature reserve on the Suffolk coast are to be abandoned to the North Sea.

The Environment Agency will on Friday reveal plans to “withdraw maintenance” from an earth bank which protects part of the internationally important Minsmere nature reserve, between Dunwich and Sizewell.

Dunes protecting the bank have been severely eroded in recent years and officials believe that spending further money in trying to shore-up the defence cannot be justified – because the sea would soon break through.

It will mean that more than 60 acres freshwater marsh at RSPB Minsmere, used by the rare bittern as well as marsh harriers, bearded tits and otters, will become more vulnerable to saltwater flooding.

While it does not believe that continued maintenance of the wall is economically or environmentally sustainable, the Environment Agency is also proposing to spend £1million in raising the height of another wall, known as Coney Wall or North Wall, which runs east west from the beach towards the Minsmere visitors centre.

This wall protects the most important part of Minsmere – an area of more than 750 acres of freshwater habitat which is the main feeding and breeding ground of the bittern and many other species of bird. Agency officials believe that maintenance of this wall will protect the area for at least 50 years.

However, both the agency and the RSPB acknowledge that much of Minsmere will be lost to the sea in the long term and the search has already started for compensatory habitat further inland. The Environment Agency is obliged under European Union law to replace such habitat.

The agency’s “preferred option” for sea defence in the area – the culmination of five years work – is to go on public display at Leiston on Friday and people will have three months to give their response.

Stuart Barbrook, the agency’s project manager, said yesterday that a range of options had been examined for defending the area over the next 100 years. The RSPB, the National Trust, which owns Dunwich Heath to the north, and British Energy, owner of most of the Sizewell nuclear site to the south, had been consulted.

Among the options had been the construction of off-shore reefs and beach groynes – work which would cost many millions of pounds.

A “do nothing” option would mean that the whole of the Minsmere reserve would be at risk of saltwater flooding, Mr Barbrook said.

Studies had shown that the most economically and environmentally sustainable option was to withdraw maintenance from the primary, beach-side wall and raise the height of a secondary wall, known as the Coney Bank.

This would protect the area known as the Minsmere levels, low-lying marshland between Dunwich heath and the Sizewell nuclear site – at least for 50 years.

“During the last two winters there has been considerable damage at the north end of the Minsmere site. The dunes have taken a battering and have been breached. It is a real pressure point. Our preferred option means we are working more in line with nature,” Mr Barbrook said.

Ian Barthorpe, RSPB spokesman, said: “We support the scheme. Our view is that while we’d like to protect valuable habitats where feasible we accept than within 20 years this wall is likely to go.”

The RSPB was working with the Environment Agency to identify alternative sites. Removal of maintenance in front of the North Marsh would mean the habitat would change as a result of saltwater incursion. But it would still be of value to wildlife on a coast where good marshland habitat is increasingly scarce.

The exhibition about the agency’s preferred sea defence option is being held in the Sizewell Sports and Social Club, on the outskirts of Leiston, on Friday between 2.30 pm and 7 pm.

Campaigners in the Blyth Estuary are protesting over Environment Agency plans to withdraw maintenance of earth banks protecting farmland and up to 40 isolated homes.

A High Court case over the future of DIY sea defences at Easton Bavents, north of Southwold, continued yesterday.

Story in the East Anglian Daily Times