A coastal community gathered at the weekend to discuss how best to move its erosion-threatened village hall further inland.

The exhibition at Trimingham, near Cromer, on Saturday was the beginning of one of the first projects to be funded by a share of north Norfolk’s £3m “pathfinder” cash.

The money, part of a nationwide pot of £11m, was awarded to the district council late last year by the government to tackle the effects of coastal change. (more…)

Buy-to-let schemes for cliff-top houses and the potential relocation of businesses are among the ideas being put forward as part of a multi-million pound project to protect communities living around the Norfolk and Suffolk coast.

East of England minister Barbara Follett joined coastal councillors and environmental experts at the second Coastal Initiative Conference yesterday to find out about the projects which are being funded by nearly £5m of government grants.

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) awarded money at the end of last year to local authorities in North Norfolk, Great Yarmouth and Waveney to push forward with projects to find out how communities can adapt to the impacts of erosion and coastal change. (more…)

BUSINESSES and landowners are among those being given a say in the future of The Wash coastline between Wolferton Creek and South Hunstanton.

The newly formed key stakeholders sub-group is a partnership set up between the Environment Agency and West Norfolk Council to represent the interests of the local community and tourism.

These are the most likely parties to be affected by future changes. (more…)

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. (more…)

North Norfolk District Council (NNDC) has been awarded a grant of £3 million to develop new ways of managing the impacts of coastal change on our coastal communities.  This comes from the Coastal Change Fund announced in the Government’s Coastal Change Policy.

• Find out more about the North Norfolk Pathfinder

THIS year will be a crucial one for adapting to climate change, claims Lincolnshire County Council.

The council is reassuring people living along our coastline it will be doing all it can to focus on the issues of flooding and protection.

Following months of research and public consultations, the council and its partners are now preparing a workshop at Louth on Monday, January 11. (more…)

Homeowners in the coastal erosion hotspot Happisburgh will not have to wait for long into the new year for discussions to start about the payments they may receive for their houses under a project to tackle the impacts of coastal change.

As reported previously in the EDP, North Norfolk District Council has been awarded a £3m pot of government money to trial a number of ground breaking ‘pathfinder’ projects to tackle the impacts which erosion has on communities, individuals and businesses.

The most awaited of those projects is a plan for the council to offer to buy a small handful of the most at-risk houses along Beach Road in Happisburgh and demolish them, allowing their occupants to buy another home instead of being left with nothing. (more…)

A woman whose home is likely to fall into the sea says she will refuse thousands of pounds of compensation to which she would be entitled.

Bryony Nierop-Reading’s home is within a few yards of an eroding cliff edge, uninsurable and not worth much in financial terms.

But recently the government announced funds to allow the purchase and demolition of homes like this by the local authority, allowing her to ‘escape’ from the apparent Catch-22 situation and put the cash into another property.

But that was the moment she chose to take the less than obvious choice.

She says that when she bought her three-bedroom Happisburgh bungalow, on the now famous Beach Road, she knew the risks and has now refused to take any money, while issuing a warning that she will not be moved against her will. (more…)

DORSET’S Jurassic Coast is set to benefit from a £376,500 cash injection to help combat erosion and rising sea levels posed by climate change.

Dorset County Council environment chiefs teamed up with their East Devon counterparts to bid for a share of millions of pounds of Government cash.

The cash will be used on projects to benefit Preston Beach in Weymouth, Ringstead, Charmouth, Seatown and Swanage. (more…)

SIDMOUTH could cash in on a share of £376,500 awarded to Dorset County Council to fight rising sea levels and coastal erosion caused by climate change.

On Wednesday the Government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) awarded £11 million in grants to local authorities through its Coastal Change Pathfinder competition.

Dorset CC, in partnership with Devon County Council, successfully bid under the banner of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site.

“This is brilliant news for Sidmouth, being the only coastal location identified in Devon, and I believe it may well be possible to draw down the funding to help us come up with a scheme that will be acceptable to everyone that will protect Sidmouth from coastal flooding,” said Councillor Stuart Hughes. (more…)