To understand more about coastal erosion concerns for Overstrand residents, watch the fact finding video featuring the Overstrand Shoreline Management Committee, North Norfolk PPC Trevor Ivory, Councillors, Supporters and Campaigners.
You can view this now at You Tube by clicking the following link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45V8AQAw_hs
The Committee was established in February 2005 as a sub committee of the Parish Council to consider the Village’s response to a draft shoreline management plan (SMP) produced by engineering consultants for North Norfolk District Council (NNDC) at the behest of DEFRA, a department of central government. The village considered the draft plan to be a major and present threat to the security of the village and similar communities throughout the United Kingdom. The Committee has to include equal numbers of parish councillors and non elected members who would be drawn from the village at large but who would possess relevant skills to interpret and understand the contents of the draft plan.
The remit of the Committee is all matters connected with the protection of Overstrand’s shoreline, which embraces the cliffs, access and facilities. Current members are Stuart Holmes, (Chairman), Joseph Aylward and William Bradfield. It meets in public approximately every eight weeks. Members of the public are very welcome to attend and ask questions or raise concerns. Details of forthcoming meetings may be found on the notice board's, outside the Parish Hall, the High Street (corner of Harbord Road) or Mundesley Road (Grange Gorman corner crossroads) and on the Parish website www.overstrandonline.org.uk
The Committee’s major task has been to respond to the draft SMP which recommended a *managed retreat” from the sea such that Overstrand would have been effectively abandoned. Despite a lack of consultation by the authors of the plan and very limited time to respond to a document that took 18 months to produce ,the village was able to produce a damning critique of the plan. The village was fortunate to have within its community an engineering director for a major multi national company, the Chairman of the University of East Anglia, a director of the company that produces the Treasury’s guidance for economic appraisals, a water engineer , a graduate of UEA’s School of environmental sciences and marketing and property specialists. We were able to establish that the economics used by the consultant were seriously flawed (misstated by a factor of 20), a number of critical issues had been either ignored or misunderstood and that the science was unproven. In all the draft SMP was accepted by NNDC as being seriously flawed. Our local MP ,Norman Lamb, has reported to us that our response has caused consternation within DEFRA such that it has caused them to rethink their plans and approach to shoreline management. It had been intended that SMPs would be a mechanism for gathering support for DEFRA’s intentions but instead the volume and nature of opposition to the draft plans has taken DEFRA by surprise.
NNDC has been extremely supportive of the village’s point of view and is paying for the maintenance of defences for the next ten years. A more permanent solution will be needed thereafter. The issue rests on the extent of rising sea levels. At the moment credible forecasts range between 1 foot over the next 100 years to 7 metres. The ranges illustrate the extent of uncertainties. The responses to such a range would be fundamentally different and our position is that until you have a clearer idea, don’t take precipitate action eg sea level rises up to 2metres could be accommodated within the framework of existing defences; a rise of 7 metres would be catastrophic and well outside any actions presently being considered by Government.
Despite this initial success we remain vigilant. The fact of the matter is that the Government has no intention of spending money on coastal defences except in the more heavily populated areas where votes are at stake. Ignoring the economic insanity of such a policy, there is a serious issue for the UK as a whole. 25% of farming land in the UK lies within 6 feet of sea level. In East Anglia, the bread basket of the UK ,40% of this land is of the highest quality and therefore invaluable to producing food. At a time when food security is of paramount importance and top of the Government’s priorities, abandoning prime farm land to the sea is a shocking dereliction of national duty.
Much has also been made of vague promises by Government to consider compensation for people who lose out as a result in changes to Government policy. Any such optimism should be tempered by the knowledge that an election looms. The case for compensation or insurance schemes is straightforward. The Government saves money through policy changes but vulnerable individuals pay the cost. As such there is no link between taking the decisions and bearing the consequences. This is fundamentally unjust and a cynical use of power.
For the above reasons your committee remains active by monitoring developments, fund raising where required and speaking in public. We also meet regularly with NNDC and others where this is helpful. Support from within the community is invaluable and any offers for assistance are more than welcome. Please either contact Stuart Holmes on tel: 01263 701766. email: stuart@holmes7899.freeserve.co.uk or the Clerk, Joan Mapperley