THE PIER extensions may in future be protected by rock armour as part of a new strategy to safeguard the Whitby coast.

Stewart Rowe, Scarborough Borough Council’s principal coastal officer, gave a presentation at a full meeting of Whitby Town Council (6 Dec) about work that is taking place to create a new coastal defence strategy.

In this presentation he suggested that to completely repair all of Whitby’s sea defences, including the harbour, would cost around £80m.

Mr Rowe said: “All the defences around the country were built around the same time by the Victorians in the 1840s.

“They’re therefore coming to the end of their lives, but there’s also potentially around 200 years of steadily increasing sea levels to battle against.

“Because the water’s getting deeper, the waves are getting bigger, which undercuts the promenades and causes more problems.”

The new defence plan will replace the first strategy, produced in 2002, and incorporates five kilometres of coastline between Sandsend and Abbey Cliff, as well as extending into the River Esk estuary up to the New Bridge.

During this presentation, Mr Rowe explained that although a number of options will be researched, rock armour may be installed in the next five to seven years to protect the pier extensions, although he did add: “rock armour would only be accepted if it was below water level”.

Rock armour, described by one councillor as “ugly”, protects the piers by breaking up wave action and reducing erosion.

It would also reduce the volume of waves breaching over the pier extensions, making them safer to pedestrians.

The A174 was highlighted as a major concern by the engineer, especially the area at Raithwaite Gap, and so if that road is to remain open – a much-maligned idea to relocate the road has long been muted – a large amount of erosion protection is required to safeguard the coastline.

Another major issue, thrown into context recently, is the flooding of areas in the centre of Whitby, with many expecting this to take place with increasing frequency as global sea levels rise.

The flooding which took place on 27 November was a freak storm surge caused by a number of different factors, but unless preventative measures are put into place, it is set to become a serious problem for residents of Church Street and New Quay Road.

“My job is to attract central government grants to fix these things,” said Mr Rowe.

“The problem in Whitby is it’s not a vast number of properties that flood.

“Although it’s a tragedy for the individual, we’re in competition with the rest of Yorkshire for funding.”

Whitby Coastal Strategy 2 is being produced by Scarborough Borough Council in collaboration with Whitby Town Council, Whitby Harbour Board, North Yorkshire County Council, the Environment Agency, and Natural England.

Story in the Whitby Gazette

Human rights will be breached if Great Yarmouth Borough Council fails to protect more than a dozen cliff-top homes and businesses from the ocean.

That is the view of Brian Hardisty whose Hopton home will be engulfed with 14 houses and two holiday companies if the Kelling to Lowestoft Ness Shoreline Management Plan (SMP) is approved.

His warning comes after plans revealed sea defences at Yarmouth and Gorleston would be maintained, while parts of Hopton would be allowed to fall into the sea.

It is a recommendation he believes breaches Article 14 (discrimination) of the Human Rights Act 1998.

The plans will see five seafront properties, Bourne Leisure and the Potters Leisure resort lost to the sea by 2055. Meanwhile, 15 properties will be lost by 2105.

But the borough council has made clear that nothing has been decided yet.

Mr Hardisty, 55, a Hopton parish councillor and chairman of Hopton Costal Action Group, said: “If they are going to hold the line in Gorleston, then why not in Hopton? It’s discrimination.

“If I had the financial backing then I would take the council to European Court of Human Rights for breaching the Article 14 (discrimination) of the Human Rights Act.

“The sea defences will be allowed to fail at Hopton because it is not financially viable to do anything about it. Yet, Hopton brings in revenue of £10m to the local economy each year, plus 1,000 jobs from holiday resorts.”

“That is reason enough to save it from going into the sea. The businesses and the properties of this village deserve a policy of hold the line and nothing else will do.”

The recommendations for Hopton is to allow the coast to retreat through a policy of managed realignment once the sea defences fail.

But during a Hopton Parish Council meeting on Monday night, council representatives and a coastal experts revealed the policy would be investigated through a £250,000 strategic review funded by DEFRA and the Environment Agency.

The 18-month strategy review will identify a programme of work to be carried out along the coastline as well as taking into account compensation for people who lose their homes.

Meanwhile, criticisms were aimed at Paul Patterson of Costal and Land Drainage Team during the meeting after claims erosion predictions had failed to identify the speed of Hopton’s erosion.

He said: “You mention the errors on erosion, but it is an estimate. There are so many things which can influence the speed of erosion. It was the best effort we could make but sometimes that is wrong. It is a clear example of the uncertainty we can face.

“We are not here to give you something to run kicking and screaming away from.

“I would like us to come together as a team to try and solve the problem of costal management.”

The Kelling to Lowestoft Ness Shoreline Management Plan is expected to go before the borough council in the near future.

Leader of the borough council, Steve Ames, said: “In order to attain approval for, or bid for funding to preserve the current coastal defences or to build more defences, we have to have an agreed Shoreline Management Plan in place.

“The plan does not dictate the strategy we are to specifically take for respective areas.

“That is to be done through the next phase of the Coastal Strategy review – which we are to produce in partnership with Waveney District Council.”

“It is the strategy that would take any decision around adapting to coastal change. No decisions have been take therefore – as the review of the Strategy has not been completed.

The results of HM Walligford study funded by Bourne Leisure, based in Hopton, into the impact of Yarmouth’s Outer Harbour on Hopton Beach is to revealed in the new year.

Story by Ben Woods in the Eastern Daily Press

A NEW online mapping facility shows how at risk Worthing, Shoreham and Littlehampton’s coastlines are from erosion and flooding.

The coastal erosion map was made live on the Environment Agency’s website last week, and allows users to see what changes, if any, there might be to the coastline where they live in the next 15 years.

The map for the South Downs area is one of just two unveiled last week as pilots for this project. It charts the coastline from Beachy Head in the east to Selsey Bill in the west, and predicts any changes to the coastline in our area by 2025 are likely to be “negligible”.

Andrew Gilham, flood and coastal risk manager for the Environment Agency, said: “This is not new information, as the Shoreline Management Plan for this area came into effect two years ago, but previously the information about coastal erosion was harder for people to access and the government asked us to look at making it more available.

“We have good defences on the Sussex coastline, but there is always a risk we could have a significant storm that could exceed those defences. This is why part of the work we do is to maintain those defences, but we also want to make sure people know there is that risk, even though it is a small.”

The information for the maps was developed in a partnership project between local authorities, the Environment Agency and the government.

Visitors to the Environment Agency website can enter their postcode and the coastline relevant to them will appear on screen. They can then click on points along the coast to reveal what shoreline management strategy is employed in that particular area and see predictions for the amount of coastal erosion in the future.

From Arun to Adur, the management strategy largely employed is Hold the Line, which is one of four statuses for shoreline management.

It is categorised as “an aspiration to build or maintain artificial defences so that the position of the shoreline remains. Sometimes, the type or method of defence may change to achieve this result”.

Mr Gilham said: “Hold the Line doesn’t mean that we will keep the coastline exactly the same, as there will always be things like shingle movement, but what it does say is that we will essentially keep things where they are by looking at what we have to do to maintain the defences.

“A few years ago, we came up with the Arun to Adur coastline strategy, and that has identified what we need to do over the next 100 years or so to stop flooding in these areas. We have already carried out work at Shoreham and Lancing, and I know Worthing wants to look at some of its groynes.

“But, if anybody has any queries or concerns, I would urge them to contact us through our website.”

The Environment Agency will gather feedback on how it might improve or add to the information provided in the pilot maps before publishing them for the rest of England and Wales next year.

For more information, and to view the map, visit www.environment-agency.gov.uk

Story in the Worthing Herald

Large parts of the Sussex coastline will disappear into the sea within 15 years, a Government report has revealed.

A study by the Environment Agency into coastal defences across Sussex highlights more than ten miles of the shoreline which will be lost to erosion.

Newhaven, Seaford and beauty spots such as Birling Gap are all listed as being affected by damage caused by the sea because of a lack of protection.

And the report warns as much as 20 metres of land could be lost in some places by 2025.

The study has been drawn up to show communities how erosion could affect where they live.

Newhaven’s coastline from Newhaven Heights to the harbour is predicted to have been eroded by up to 20 metres by 2025.

The report is grim reading for those parts of Sussex which currently have defences, too.

Properties along the coast through Brighton and Hove, Shoreham, Worthing and Littlehampton are assessed as being at “significant” risk of flooding, along with homes and businesses near the banks of the Arun, Adur and Ouse.

Lewes MP Norman Baker yesterday (November 20) vowed to take the Newhaven’s shoreline policy up with the Environment Agency.

He said: “The climate change chickens are coming home to roost.

“We have already seen cottage after cottage in Birling Gap go into the sea.

“There has always been erosion but it has now accelerated.”

Judith Ost, the leader of Newhaven Town Council, said: “While I would like the area protected from erosion, currently industrial sites in Newhaven are at very real risk of flooding and this needs to be addressed.”

Environment Minister Richard Benyon said: “Coastal erosion is a natural process and while we can’t defend every single section of cliff or beach.”

The Government is spending £2.1 billion tackling erosion and flooding.

See the Environment Agency maps showing coastal erosion areas, here.

Story in The Argus

Wales must prepare for coastal erosion such as the landslip that left 15 caravans teetering on the edge of cliff near Barry, a minister says.

Environment Minister John Griffiths is launching a new strategy aimed at managing and reducing the risks and fall out of flooding and erosion.

It aims to raise awareness, improve responses and prioritise investment in the areas most at risk.

One expert says people must accept saving all the coastline is too costly.

The Welsh government estimates one in six properties in Wales is at risk of flooding from rivers, the sea or surface water.

Mr Griffiths is launching a new national strategy at Borth in Ceredigion where £12m is being spent on a coastal flood defence scheme to protect 422 homes and businesses.

He referred to the “significant flooding” in 1990, which saw around 2,800 properties flooded and thousands evacuated when defences were breached in Towyn and Kinmel Bay areas in north Wales.

Mr Griffiths said this month’s rock fall at the Porthkerry, near Barry, which left 15 caravans teetering on a cliff edge had been a stark reminder of the dangers faced.

Loss of land

“The evidence suggests that in future we may see more events like these, with higher sea levels, increases in the intensity of rainfall and more frequent flooding,” he said.

“The consequence of that flooding will include greater risks to life, the economy and the environment.

“Coastal erosion will increase, with more coastal communities facing the loss of land, properties and resources.”

But he said with proper planning the risks could be managed and the consequences reduced.

He said the Welsh government would continue to invest in flood and coast protection and a successful bid for £50m of European money had offset any reduction in the government’s budget.

Prof Mike Phillips, head of the school of built and natural environment at Swansea Metropolitan University, said there were already a lot of good partnerships in Wales but the work needed to be built on.

Better predictions

“What is changing now and where I think we are starting to make great advances is in realising some times it’s too expensive to defend the coastline,” he explained.

He said areas of high economic importance would continue to be protected but in other parts a “managed retreat” was a better option.

And he said experts were now much better at predicting areas that may be at risk.

“Modelling is a lot better and the predictions are a lot better.”

He said there had been a lot of work recently in understanding the different factors at work around the beaches at Tenby in Pembrokeshire.

And he welcomed the fact every local authority would have to produce its own strategy based on the national one.

“We have to make sure that where we are developing near the shore line we get people who understand the coastal processes in that area to respond,” he added.

The British Geological Survey (BGS) manages a database with the records of over 180 landslides around Wales and says they can be hard to predict.

Dr Helen Reeves, a senior engineering geologist with the BGS said: “It’s a natural process and it’s very difficult to stop but there are ways we can mitigate against it and there are certain engineering solutions that you can put in place.”

Story on the BBC News website

Plans for the future management of the north Suffolk coast were approved by councillors last night.

Members of Waveney District Council’s cabinet met on Wednesday to formally adopt the county’s Shoreline Management Plan (SMP), which covers the stretch of coast between Lowestoft Ness and Felixstowe.

The SMP was provisionally approved by the cabinet last November and, following delays, it has since been approved by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), signed off by the Environment Agency, and adopted by Suffolk Coastal District Council last week.

As previously reported by The Journal, there is concern at Covehithe over the SMP’s recommendation that a policy of “no active intervention” is applied for the next century – effectively meaning that within 30 to 40 years the entire hamlet, including homes, an historic church and important conservation areas, will be lost.

Wrentham councillor Martin Parsons said: “Benacre is losing 17 acres of land every year and with the no active intervention policy this is in effect saying we will stop the landowner defending the coast. This is a huge ethical issue.”

Paul Patterson, Waveney’s senior coastal engineer, responded: “About 18 months ago there was a meeting requested from the Benacre Estate, but no submission of taking up this offer – so if they want to come to talk to officers we can help in this matter.”

Story by Mark Boggis in the Eastern Daily Press

Plans to tackle erosion and flooding along Suffolk’s coastline have taken a step closer to being fully approved.

Suffolk Coastal District Council’s cabinet backed the Shoreline Management Plan, which would run until 2105.

The proposals say it is too expensive to protect all 45 miles of the coast so areas including Covehithe and Benacre Broad will not be defended.

Waveney District Council is expected to provide the final sign off when its cabinet meets next Tuesday.

The review of the coastline between Lowestoft Ness and Landguard Point in Felixstowe began in 2007, with the plans finalised last year.

Sea defences at Lowestoft, Southwold and Felixstowe would be maintained and the main area of Kessingland, along with the A12, would be defended.

Erosion threat

About 1,000 acres (400 hectares) of land between Kessingland and Southwold would be left to the mercy of the sea.

Andy Smith, Conservative deputy leader of Suffolk Coastal District Council, said: “The key aspects are that virtually the entire populated part of the coast will be protected.”

Mr Smith said the future of Covehithe had proven controversial.

“The cliff is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, where it’s felt by Natural England particularly, that the cliff should not in the long term be held,” he said.

“The problem is that it’s another area that has continued to erode for many years and SSSI or not, you can’t look at every piece in isolation – you have to look at the jigsaw as a whole.

“That’s why we have a shoreline management plan, which I think is a positive move from everyone doing their own thing.”

‘Sense of injustice’

Suffolk Coastal MP Therese Coffey, Conservative, said a landowner at Covehithe had been told he could not fund sea defences for the village.

She said: “The landowner has been blocked from doing so on the pretext that they need his land to disappear in order to help save other places – that feels like a sense of injustice.

“Just because there are certain kinds of fossils in there, or something like that, I’m not sure that outweighs the farming that happens there.

“In 10 or 20 years’ time the Covehithe church will fall into the sea, and it seems a shame for that to happen if there is a scheme that can be funded by the landowner that could be trialled to make sure it doesn’t have a detrimental affect on Southwold.”

Community group Suffolk Coast Against Retreat is also concerned about Covehithe’s future.

Chairman Graham Henderson said the loss of the village would have a knock on effect to local habitats for birds including bitterns.

He said the plan is being challenged in the European courts.

“The challenge is based on the fact that to actually abandon sections of the Suffolk coast will mean that they will be allowing what are currently fresh water areas such as Eastern Broad and Benacre Broad to become saline,” said Mr Henderson.

“The European Habitats Directive states they must replace those fresh water habitats elsewhere in the country.

“It’s estimated that could cost £20m to replace those habitats.

“If it was spent on sea defence, they wouldn’t have to replace the habitat.”

Story on the BBC News website

Several caravans at a South Wales caravan park have been left hanging from the edge of a cliff after a large section of it broke away and crashed to the beach below.

Around 40ft of rock came away from the cliff face at the Knapp Beach end of the Porthkerry Leisure Park in the Vale of Glamorgan.

It is understood no caravans went over the edge but 13 could be seen sticking well out over the edge. At least one was occupied at the time and the woman was said to be “petrified”.

The caravan park is occupied year round.

Vale of Glamorgan council officers are on the ground assessing the situation.

Doug Davies who has lived on the leisure park for eight years with his wife, Pam, said: “I’ve never seen anything like it before. I didn’t see it happen myself but others said it sounded like fireworks going off.

“The static caravans are there at the edge of the cliff and then there is a sheer drop down to the beach of about 40ft.

“There was one woman in a caravan at the time and the rest were empty because people are leaving the site at this time of year.

“The woman was helped from her caravan by friends. She was petrified but wasn’t hurt.”

Hanna Stradling, 30, of Rhoose, is due to have her wedding reception with 200 guests at the weekend at the park’s Ocean Lounge, which looks out to sea.

She said: “I’m worried because I don’t know if the reception will be able to go ahead. They’ve told me that it will be okay but there is still some doubt.”

Miles Punter, head of visible services at the Vale council, said: Any significant rock fall or incident of coastal erosion is clearly a matter of concern and we are currently investigating this particular incident.

“I would however point out that while the council has a role in monitoring the coastline in its area, the responsibility for protecting private land and property along the coastline lies with the relevant land or property owners.

The council has adopted a Shoreline Management plan for this section of the coast which suggests that any repairs to cliffs or the introduction of any built sea defences would be inappropriate, recommending instead ‘no active intervention’.

“Our officers will however assess the current site risks from this recent occurrence and advise the landowners of any remedial works that may be necessary, including those that may be required to protect users of the beach.

Alun Cairns, the area’s MP, said he would be speaking with the landowners, the local authority and the Environment Agency to find out more about the incident and to understand what measures can be put in place to ensure that this can be avoided in the future.

Mr Cairns said: “I was shocked to hear the news about the landfall, but so pleased that no one was hurt – it must have been a really frightening experience for those staying on the caravan park.

“Porthkerry Leisure Park is a large site, and to have an instance of this coastal erosion is a concern.

“I will be contacting the land owners, the Vale of Glamorgan council and the Environment Agency to find out what remedial works may be necessary to safeguard the area for leisure park residents and for the public who access the beach.”

Story by Peter Collins on the WalesOnline website

A coastal defence scheme which could see the shape of Suffolk’s shoreline altered dramatically over the next century is set to be adopted by district leaders.

Plans to manage the 45 mile stretch between Lowestoft Ness and Languard Point in Felixstowe had been subject to opposition from inhabitants of communities denied investment for long-term defence against erosion.

Though flood risk would continue to be managed in all of the county’s main coastal towns and principal villages, areas with no proposed measures in place to slow erosion could be lost to the North Sea by as early as 2055.

Suffolk Coastal’s cabinet will be asked to formally adopt the Shoreline Management Plan (SMP) next Tuesday and implement a policy of “no active intervention” in smaller communities including Covehithe, a tiny hamlet just north of Southwold, where residents face the inevitable loss of homes, a 15th century church and conservation areas within the next 40 years unless sea defences can be funded independently.

The plan, prepared in association with Natural England by Suffolk Coastal, Waveney, British Energy and the Environment Agency, aims to reduce environmental risks to people and developed, historic and natural environments, but does not protect areas lacking significant conservation or landscape quality interest.

A blueprint was provisionally approved for adoption by Suffolk Coastal District Council (SCDC) in February 2010, and more recently by Waveney in November 2010, but needed to be proved environmentally sound to Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), which required evidence that no feasible alternative existed and that compensatory measures were secured.

Residents of Covehithe joined members of the Alde and Ore Association and SCAR (Suffolk Coast Against Retreat) in speaking out against the adoption and called for an alternative approach to defending Suffolk’s coast and tidal rivers.

Richard Steward, of the Blyth Estuary Group, meanwhile argued that any inland relocation would prove more costly to the Environment Agency’s coastal defence budget than preventatively protecting the whole of the coast from Southwold to Kessingland. He added that EU guidance declares abandonment and relocation “unlawful” unless for the overriding benefit of the public.

But Deputy Leader of Suffolk Coastal, Andy Smith said that, in the case of Covehithe, there was no viability for building expensive sea defences for such a small number of houses. However, he added that Waveney District Council was already looking into preferential planning solutions for residents. He added: “Defra and Natural England found no impediment and are content for us to adopt the plan.

“We will monitor and review the plan if circumstances make it necessary to do so.”

How Suffolk’s shores will be managed under the Shoreline Management Plan in the short (up to 2025), medium (2026-2055) and long (up to 2105) term:

Coastline defence protection will be maintained or upgraded throughout the next 100 years in Lowestoft. Pakefield will also be maintained or upgraded until 2105, when its coastline is set to be realigned. Kessingland village will also be maintained and upgraded Pakefield Cliffs will be abandoned, as will nearby Benacre Ness and Kessingland cliff.

The area between Benacre Broad and Easton Broad, in which lies Covehithe village, is not considered sustainable to attempt erosion management and will therefore be lost unless independently funded.

Southwold, and the area north of the town, will be subject to maintenance, upgrades and realignment, as will a stretch of the Blyth estuary between The Denes and Walberswick, excluding the upper estuary. Walberswick and Dunwich will also be protected or realigned.

Cliffs south of Dunwich, including Minsmere and Sizewell may be lost without long-term defence, but surrounding villages will continue to be protected.

It is hoped some properties between Thorpeness Haven and Aldeburgh will continue to be defended by the naturally-functioning shingle bank rather than man-made works which will be maintained or upgraded where required.

Since last February, more urgent works have been required in Thorpeness where a partnership between SCDC, local residents and the Environment Agency (EA) has enabled the repair and strengthening of damaged defences, reducing the immediate threat to homes from coastal erosion.

The emergency repairs began in October with 1,450 large geo-textile bags filled with sand and shingle being placed in front of the eroded cliff.

Sudbourne beach and Orford Ness will both be left to erode naturally, as will Orford beach, with realignment, maintenance and upgrades made going south as far as Bawdsey hill and cliffs which will be left. The coastline between Bawdsey Manor and Languard Point will continue to be managed and realigned where appropriate to maintain important flood defences.

Story by Tom Potter in the East Anglain Daily Times

PLANS have been drawn up to protect a unique stretch of coastline for the future.

East Durham’s shoreline is the only one of its kind in the world thanks to its magnesium make-up and it’s because of this it has special status to protect the land, wildlife and plants.

The Environment Agency has set aside £300,000 to monitor the coast from St Abbs in the Scottish Borders to the Humber Estuary, which will result in a buoy being put in the North Sea to collect wave data, a survey of the sea bed and profiles of beaches being carried out.

Now Durham County Council plans to add to that by carrying out bi-annual surveys along Seaham promenade, capturing the seasonal changes of the beaches and the effects of the waves.

Information gathered will help shape future projects.

The council is already carrying out an urgent condition assessment of the town’s North Pier to establish its condition and estimate its working life.

It has also put together plans for two further studies of the pier, which is only accessible to the town’s angling club and has put £1million aside for works during the 2013/2014 financial year.

The Shoreline Management Plan (SMP), due to be considered by the council’s cabinet today, also details how the cliffs close to the promenade are inspected and that pre and post-winter checks are made of the rock armour sea defences at Featherbed Rocks, Bessie’s Hole, Red Acre Bay and the Chemical Beach.

Members have been asked to back the plan and continued assessment of the pier.

Simon Longstaff, drainage and coastal protection manager, said: “The SMP is an essential tool if we are to protect this valuable asset and reduce the risk to people and the developed, historic and natural environment from coastal erosion, climate change and any rise in sea level.”

The section of coast which includes the harbour is not included in the project because it is in private ownership.

Story by Fiona Thompson in the Sunderland Echo