COASTAL erosion campaigners were left with mixed feelings following the visit of a high-powered government official to hear their concerns and ideas.

Minister for marine and natural environment Huw Irranca-Davies MP dropped in at various sites along the Norfolk coast to find out more about plans to defend the shoreline from an encroaching sea.

One of the areas visited was Hopton, to which he had been specifically invited by Tony Wright MP. (more…)

CAMPAIGNERS are making waves in their battle to protect Hopton’s seaside community from erosion.

Clifftop resident Brian Hardisty says officials have played down the effect of the outer harbour on the shrinking sands and is seeking answers, possibly by making a Freedom of Information request to see “secret” documents.

Mr Hardisty wants to set up an independent coastal erosion group to challenge the Shoreline Management Plan which is being revised this year. (more…)

A successful multi million pound bid to solve major coastal problems in Norfolk and Suffolk was hailed by experts and campaigners last night as the most important step ever taken in the management of the coast.

And as three local authorities – North Norfolk, Waveney and Great Yarmouth – celebrated winning nearly £5m out of a national pot of £11m to address a range of challenges, officials in charge of managing the coast said the money would help individuals about to lose their homes to erosion, the two counties as a whole and also build future policies for the rest of the country in the face of climate change.

A small number of people teetering on the very edges of some cliff tops, including in the now internationally known erosion hotspot of Happisburgh, were for the first time guaranteed payments for the loss of their homes where they had previously faced walking away with nothing. (more…)

Coastal erosion campaigners have hailed the efforts of a cross-party group of Norfolk MPs as “a whole chunk of England standing together saying we cannot let Norfolk go.”

Jim Bratton of Scratby’s coastal erosion group said Great Yarmouth MP Tony Wright had put the case for his stretch of coastline well at a commons debate broadcast live on Tuesday.

Mr Wright was one of a group of MPs who pledged to fight on after failing to win reassurances or concessions from the government over the mooted surrendering of 25 square miles of the county to the sea. (more…)