COASTAL campaigners were left hopeful for the future after a government minister saw first hand how erosion is eating into the region’s shores.

Richard Benyon, of Defra, paid a visit to Scratby, Winterton and Hopton among other spots while on his fact-finding mission to the Norfolk coast on Friday.

And while there, he heard from pressure groups about the ongoing fight to protect coastal communities in an era of government austerity.

Brian Hardisty is chairman of Hopton’s coastal erosion group and has fought against proposals to leave the area unprotected.

He was left reassured by the attitude of the new junior minister, who took note of his fears regarding the suggested impact of the outer harbour on Hopton beach, and said:

“He showed great interest, picked up on points and asked questions that showed he was developing an opinion.

“This minister appears to have a will to do something about Hopton beach and stop properties falling into the sea. His attitude seems to be stronger than we have seen and heard before.

“I got the feeling that if there was money on the table a solution could be found to Hopton’s beach and erosion problems.”

Mr Hardisty said that the next key decision would come when Great Yarmouth Borough Council considered the Shoreline Management Plan, which recommends no active intervention for the area.

Also heartened by meeting with Mr Benyon was Jim Bratton, secretary of the Scratby Coastal Erosion Group, who said that before the visit he and others were concerned about what stance the new government might take on the issue.

“We explained to him our situation and let him see for himself, and it seems that the government is taking it seriously. We hope to work with them.”

Currently the Environment Agency are looking at proposals to extend the rock berm project from the cliffs at California a further kilometre to Scratby.

Now set to be joint chairman of an all party group on coastal erosion, Great Yarmouth MP Brandon Lewis was also present on the day.

Mr Lewis said that it was important the minister “got to see it with his own eyes” before adding: “We’re about to go into a spending review and we will have to make savings. We definately have to make the case that, in terms of coastal erosion, the savings to be made are on the bureaucracy surrounding the issue.”

Story in the Great Yarmouth Mercury

Brandon Lewis, the Conservative prospective Parliamentary candidate for Yarmouth, has recruited MP John Gummer in the battle to highlight the coastal erosion problems facing Scratby, Hemsby and Winterton.

As a member of the cross party Parliamentary group looking at coastal erosion, Mr Gummer was able to gain valuable information on the issue and how it affects Yarmouth during a visit to the area.

Mr Lewis was joined by coastal erosion campaigners from the villages in making the case to Mr Gummer for investment to hold the line on this part of the coast.

He said: “Hemsby alone puts £80m to £100m into the local economy. When you take that and the house and other business values that could be lost along this stretch of land you can easily see a cost of up to £200m for not holding the line here.

“It would only cost around £2.5m to finish the line of the rock protection that currently ends at Scratby and compared to the loss of property and business here that seems a very good investment.”

Story in the Eastern Daily Press

To celebrate the successful completion of an £11 million scheme to limit flood risk to the Broads, a commemorative plaque will be unveiled by local MPs Norman Lamb and Tony Wright near Waxham on Friday 6 March.

The scheme will help protect around 500 houses and 3600 hectares of land, including 1256 hectares of designated Broadland habitat.

As part of the scheme, ten timber and steel groynes have been replaced, new rock groynes built  between Horsey and Winterton Ness Gap, rock revetments (rocks placed to protect the seawall from wave action) reconstructed and the beach between Sea Palling and Poplar Farm Gap recharged with sand to prevent failure of the sea wall.

Dafydd Evans, Environment Agency Eastern Area Manager said, “We have undertaken a great deal of work on this scheme and are committed to protecting this length of coast for at least the next 50 years, as stated in the Shoreline Management Plan. We have approval to spend a further £10 million on this length of coast over the next few years, which we hope will reassure local people of our commitment to the Plan.”

The Environment Agency has responsibility for the sea defences along a 14km length of the Norfolk coast from Cart Gap, south of Happisburgh, to Beach Road, Winterton. This is a dynamic coastline with a long history of erosion and tidal flooding, which the Environment Agency and other partners are trying to ensure is managed in a sustainable way into the future for the benefit of both people and the unique Broadland habitat.

From the Environment Agency website

The Winterton Dunes Coastal Habitat Management Plan is a contributor to thinking behind the leaked Natural England report with the infamous ‘option 4′ considering the implications of intentionally withdrawing sea defences to Potter Heigham and Stalham, resulting in ‘embayment of the Upper Thurne Basin’.

From the conclusions:

Given the long term (>50 years) potential for changes to the line of defence and the questionable sustainability of maintaining the existing coastal configuration along the Horsey-Winterton frontage, brief consideration has been given to the option of allowing breach of the dune system and the partial flooding of the northern Broadland area. While, clearly, this would have major implications of a socio-economic nature, it is apparent that the consequences for nature conservation and ecological interests would be of huge and beneficial significance. This is seen as a potential long term option opportunity that offers the scope for major ecological gain at a national level and in a location where, perhaps, socio-economic and land-planning issues may be more compatible with the overall vision than potentially similar large-scale habitat creation opportunities in other areas of eastern and southern England. It is clear though, that further study of the proposal would be required, particularly with respect to the viability of other long term coastal defence options. In this context it is important that continued monitoring of the Winterton frontage is undertaken in order to determine the accuracy of the predictions made in this CHaMP. Only with additional and longer term datasets can informed decisions on the future sustainability and strategic direction of coastal defence requirements be made for this stretch of the Norfolk coastline.

The original documents are now available again for download at http://www.english-nature.gov.uk/livingwiththesea/champs/pilots.asp