Houses on the Edge: The UK Coastal Erosion Problem

Typography
The UK is famous for its fantastic coastlines. Those living on the mainland sometimes forget we are an island, what Shakespeare described as a "precious stone set in the silver sea", but there is a pressing need throughout the UK for raised awareness of what is happening to our coasts as a result of climate change and rising sea levels.

The UK is famous for its fantastic coastlines. Those living on the mainland sometimes forget we are an island, what Shakespeare described as a "precious stone set in the silver sea", but there is a pressing need throughout the UK for raised awareness of what is happening to our coasts as a result of climate change and rising sea levels.

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According to the Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership (MCCIP), 17% of the UK coast line is currently eroding. This is expected to worsen in the future as sea levels continue to rise and wave and tide conditions change.  

Most people living on the coast will already be aware of the serious threat erosion poses. However, for some unfortunate coastal homeowners, encroaching coastal erosion isn’t just a threat, it is a problem which blights their day to day lives and, in some of the worst cases, has even cost them their home.

Each region contending with coastal erosion has its own site specific factors to address. In some cases, preventive measures have been successful, helping the inhabitants to keep their coastal properties, while simultaneously preserving the surrounding environs.

However, there has also been the need to intervene in serious cases to relocate residents and demolish properties perched perilously on crumbling coasts. Furthermore, a few properties have now been declared lost causes, unable to be saved from the sea, which is expected to claim them over the next 40 years.

Analyzing examples of these houses on the edge enables us to get a clearer picture of the problem of coastal erosion and the measures being implemented to prevent it, manage it and minimize its impact on inhabitants and their habitat.

Poole Bay and Poole Harbour on the Dorset coast are affluent areas of stunning beauty. Popular tourist spots, the bay and harbour are also residential areas. Working in partnership, the local authorities have closely monitored coastal erosion in the region for many years, taking preventive action whenever necessary.

Since 1995, a series of strategic beach replenishment have been undertaken, using dredgers to redistribute and replenish sand at crucial points along the coastline. From 1970 to 2000 close to 2 million cubic metes of sand was deposited along the coast, while a further 1.8 million cubic meters of sand was replenished between 2005-2008, building up natural defenses against the erosion of the beach and sandstone cliffs.

There have also been less natural defenses erected to slow coastal erosion. In May 2009, the construction of five new rock groynes was completed, at the cost of £1.9 million. Poole Bay and Poole Harbour are strong examples of what can be done to minimize the impact of coastal erosion, when site specific issues are closely monitored by local authorities working in partnership to preserve their treasured locales.

Unfortunately, in many areas coastal erosion has progressed to the point that the homes of local residents have been placed in peril. Two such regions are Happisburgh in North Norfolk and Easton Bavents in Waveney. The prospect of losing your home to the sea must be heartbreaking enough, but the fact that insurance does not cover homes destroyed by coastal erosion can only deepen the despair. In North Norfolk and Waveney the local authorities stepped in.

The Happisburgh and Easton Bavents cases show how costly coastal erosion can be in terms of money and human heartache over lost homes. The Pathfinder projects reveal the great efforts being made by councils and communities to manage the impact of eroding coastlines on residential areas, and will be a valuable source of learning for future cases, which unfortunately appear to be unpreventable.

The two rather sad cases of Porthdinllaen, a picturesque 18th century fishing village in Gwynedd, and Covehithe, a Suffolk village whose St Andrew’s church is of great historical interest, are tragic  examples of hamlets which may have to be abandoned to the sea due to the ravages of coastal erosion.

The UK Climate Change Impacts Programme has predicted that sea levels along the Welsh coast will rise by 86cm by 2080, although other estimates in the scientific community predict as much as a 2.5 metre rise. Consequently, Porthdinllaen has been declared doomed and is expected to be swallowed by the sea within the next 40 years, becoming another notable victim of rising tides and coastal erosion.

In the case of Covehithe, the situation of the village and its historic church has been declared hopeless by the council. Suffolk’s Shoreline Management Plan has reluctantly conceded that Covehithe and 1,000 acres of its surroundings may have to be surrendered to the sea within the next 30 to 40 years. Needless to say, there has been outrage over the decision.

Coastal erosion is clearly a crucial issue for the UK and will continue to be for hundreds of years. Awareness must be raised about the continuing impact of climate change on rising sea levels and tidal behavior and their subsequent effect on our precious coastlines. It can only be hoped that constant monitoring, preventive action and, when needed, public sector intervention will enable the residents of homes at risk from coastal erosion to find sanctuary from the sea.

For further information see MCCIP or LWEC. or Policy Expert.

Sea Size image via Covehithe Coastal Erosion.