Plan to sacrifice land to rising sea levels (From Gazette)

Plan to sacrifice land to rising sea levels

7:30pm Tuesday 16th March 2010 in

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PLANS to manage rising sea levels could mean land at West Mersea, Wivenhoe and Bright-lingsea is lost to the waves.

Holland Haven Country Park and Frinton Golf Course could also become under water within 50 years.

The Environment Agency’s draft Essex Shoreline Management Plan suggests those areas could be sacrificed to the sea in the future to cope with the risk of flooding.

The draft plan, launched yesterday, puts forward proposals for the county’s coastal defences for the next century.

It says it wants to protect seaside towns and their tourism and businesses by keeping most defences.

But it suggests stopping managing the sea wall protecting Holland Haven Country Park and Frinton Golf Course. Footpaths along the coast may also need rerouting although it says homes and roads will continue to be protected.

Malcolm Boucher, secretary of Frinton Golf Club, said: “It is not an immediate concern. Having said that, we want to have a role in contributing towards the plan.

“The agency has identified a certain stretch of the coastline it is not going to do much for – and one of those sections is us.

“We have never been exposed and Tendring Council and the Environment Agency have done a half decent job “I can’t see we will be left open to the sea – that’s just not going to happen. When 2055 comes, the sea is not just going to come over the sea wall.

“We have plenty of advance warning and plans are reviewed every five years. At the moment we are open for business.”

The Environment Agency also wants the shoreline at the Naze to erode naturally, except for the southern section of the cliffs. At Seawick, Jaywick and St Osyth Marsh, the current sea defences will be held until 2025, after which it calls for homes to be redirected away from flood risk zones.

At West Mersea, agricultural land and footpaths facing the Strood could be left open to the sea, as well as land east and west of Brightlingsea.

The plans also proposed managed flooding south of Wivenhoe.

Shirley Bowes, 72, of Ballast Quay Farm, Wivenhoe, who grazes 100 cattle on 37 acres of marshland every year, said it could have a huge affect on business.

She said: “The marshes are a big part of all our summer grazing from April to November.”