The sum of £100 million pledged by environment minister Phil Woolas to project the Norfolk Broads against the ever rising North Sea during the next 50 years, appears to fall far short of the realistic cost of conserving this important freshwater habitat.

That is the view of local anglers and indeed all conservationists who point out that to fulfil this promise the government has to sanction the building of a tidal barrage at Great Yarmouth as well as meeting head on the threat of the sea breaching the vulnerable coastal defences between Eccles and Winterton.

A tidal barrier scheme has been on and off the agenda since the 1950s, and it was rejected by government in the 1970s on the grounds that the estimated bill of £70 million did not meet the cost/benefit criteria.

It does not require a mathematic genius to calculate that building such a tidal barrage today, even if it was somehow incorporated into the Yarmouth outer harbour scheme, would swallow all of the £100 million and possibly require much more. (more…)