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Cabinet received report ES/1162 by the Cabinet Member with responsibility for Planning and Coastal Management, together with a presentation which was given by officers. The report contained a high level overview, which stated that the Resilient Coasts project would deliver practical solutions to deal with climate change and sea level rise that were co-created and implemented by communities along East Suffolk and Great Yarmouth coastal frontages. The project aimed to facilitate a sense of ownership that would increase community resilience to tidal flooding and coastal erosion.
It was reported that high risk communities with no resilience options would benefit from a suite of innovative tools that would allow them to plan and transition in response to coastal change to viable, sustainable places whilst delivering wider outcomes of local plans and strategies. Through eight work packages much needed tools and options would be created for those affected by coastal change so new community-led resilience master plans could be co-created.
The project would add value to traditional coastal management and planning approaches and go beyond other resilience work initiatives by offering the first dedicated joint UK erosion and tidal risk resilience project. This would generate significant learning locally, nationally, and across public and private sectors. The project would provide evidence for policy change and underpin how coastal practitioners manage the coast and learn to adapt to coastal change now and in the future.
The £9.1m Resilient Coast project would be funded by the Defra and Environment Agency (EA) Flood and Coast Resilience Innovation Programme (FCRIP) and would be one of 25 projects across England to be funded and one of only five dedicated coastal projects.
The draft Outline Business Case was currently being technically reviewed by the Environment Agency assurers and it had been proposed that ESC acts as Lead Authority for the project in partnership with Great Yarmouth Borough Council with work being delivered by the Coastal Partnership East officers. Additional resources to support project delivery would be necessary and paid for by the FCRIP fund.
Although the EA had already given approval for the project to commence and allocated the funding the project required, Government processes stipulated that a detailed Outline Business Case be submitted for technical ‘assurance’ by the EA’s national panel. When this process had been completed approval would be in place to move into the delivery phase and claim the remaining funding over the course of the project.
It was highlighted that the project would focus on finding practical solutions to enable adaptation to coastal erosion, flooding and climate change risk. The funding was not available to spend in locations that already had flood and coastal solutions through existing funding routes.
The project’s work would be focused on four core pilot locations and the outputs would also feed-in to three ‘twin’ locations, ie
- Southwold, a defended coastal town between the mouth of an estuary at flood risk and soft eroding cliffs - focus was on the transition between hard defences and soft/natural coast where defences.
- Hemsby, an undefended coastal resort with properties at risk behind an eroding sand dune with significant environmental designations.
- Great Yarmouth, a defended urban zone at flood risk with areas of uneconomic frontage that needed resilience solutions and potential for enhanced biodiversity and alternative flood management solutions.
- Thorpeness, a partially defended rural coastal heritage village at both erosion and flood risk.
The twin locations were as follows:-
- The undefended cliff top community in Pakefield at significant erosion risk.
- The rural community at erosion risk in Shotley Gate within an estuary environment.
- The area from Corton to Gunton, with key infrastructure, holiday parks, failed historic coastal defenses and a village at future erosion risk.
Wider coastal community benefits were highlighted as follows:-
Outside the pilots and twins it was an aim to work strategically with communities across the whole East Suffolk and Great Yarmouth frontage to establish coastal change science and potential impacts and raise awareness about coastal risk.
CPE would develop and share visualisations of future coast scenarios to support community understanding of the constraints and opportunities for a resilient coast to support future discussions when coastal impacts increase. CPE would share new coastal erosion risk mapping to support planning and development decisions.
CPE would also be engaging infrastructure and third-party asset owners to establish where infrastructure was located along the whole coast and work with these partners to establish longer term investment plans that support more resilient infrastructure for our coastal communities and economies for the future.
CPE would be exploring the natural capital of the coast and establishing wherever possible ways that would support the natural coastal areas and potential funding routes to enhance biodiversity and local nature recovery.
Cabinet was advised that governance to this stage had been provided by the CPE Board which included Councillors Ritchie and Mallinder and Senior Officers Nick Khan and Philip Ridley. A Resilient Coast Project Board would be established upon approval of the outline business case by the EA and following approval by ESC Cabinet. Wider project governance was already being established with officers, partners and stakeholders and included a new Coastal Community group for the pilot locations at Thorpeness, Southwold, Great Yarmouth and Hemsby and would extend to other key coastal communities including Pakefield, Easton Bavents, Corton and Gunton.
In conclusion, the project would meet a significant number of ESC Local Plan and Strategy objectives and deliver outcomes across all five ESC strategic themes. The project was aligned with National Defra Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Strategy and LGA Coastal Specialist Interest Group work plans and linked to wider government place-making and levelling-up agendas.
Cabinet gave its full support for the project and welcomed the work with communities; the Cabinet Member with responsibility for the Environment particularly commented favourably in respect of ESC and CPE really focussing and building environmentally resilient communities; he acknowledged that East Suffolk was exposed in this area and he was delighted to see national Government recognising that; he stated that East Suffolk needed to make sure it was ready for the future; he stated the importance of building environmentally sustainable and resilient communities, for now and for future generations.
Councillor Beavan stated that he welcomed the report and he gave thanks to all involved; he added that it was a dream that he had, when the Southwold Board was set up, to proactively build a road to resilience for East Suffolk communities; Councillor Beavan thanked Councillor Ritchie for helping to set up the Board and also for the work that was being undertaken constructively on the harbour as well. In conclusion, Councillor Beavan stated that he looked forward to the opportunities ahead for cross-party working and he looked forward to the engagement with local communities so that they could devise their own resilient road forward.
Councillor Gooch referred to a news item that she had just seen, which related to the types of people who might purchase vulnerable coastal properties and might not have a survey prior to doing so; Councillor Gooch commented that a suggestion had been made that there should be openness and those people should be protected. Officers commented in respect of the sharing of information, stating that there were almost certainly people who were purchasing properties in erosion risk areas, who were unaware of the risks. Officers thought that over the next couple of years the issue would be raised as an important issue, and with the erosion risk mapping being refreshed in 2023/24 that would flag to a lot of people potential new erosion risk areas that people were not anticipating. Officers were uncertain as to whether the Government wanted to put it into legislation that estate agents and others needed to give this information to people but it was thought, from a community and grass roots level, that the the relevant information should be shared.
On the proposition of Councillor Ritchie, seconded by Councillor Rudd, it was by unanimous vote
RESOLVED
1. That the Resilient Coast Outline Business Case, attached at Appendix A of the report, be accepted as a basis for a £9.1m programme of innovative coastal adaptation along the East Suffolk and Great Yarmouth coastal frontages.
2. That it be acknowledged that the Outline Business Case approval by the Environment Agency will release the allocation of funding to East Suffolk Council and the Cabinet’s approval of the Outline Business Case is therefore required by the Environment Agency to release funds.
3. That the role as lead authority and the financial responsibility and scrutiny of £9.1m, supported by the additional scrutiny of GYBC's Environment Committee, be accepted.