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Floods in France

Last weekend Britain was lashed by gales and massive sea swells but once again the Marsh was ‘lucky’ ( if you can call it that)  and escaped the worst  . The combination of spring tides coupled with high winds  and the consequent flooding could have potentially been disasterous for us all . It could have caused  damage similar to that experienced in France on the Atlantic coast between La Rochelle and  L’Aguillon sur Mer. Given that we too  live in a low-lying and predominantly below sea level area,  which is  shaped like a saucer, one break-through  in our sea defences would have been sufficient to cause the human drama and terrible toll as has been experienced abroad.

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There are 1,250 km of coastline in the South East of England with 403,000 properties (domestic and commercial) as risk from flooding, both fluvial and coastal  - the third highest regional total in England! To achieve long-term economic prosperity , decision makers need to consider flood and coastal risk in their plans,strategies and decisions.

The Environment Agency has just published its ninth ‘State of the Environment’ Report for the Southeast  and over the next two years  maps will be published to show those areas of the coast most at risk from coastal erosion , rendering these areas to higher risks of flooding.

DOC continues  to liaise on behalf of all  its members and coastal communities with all relevant Government Agencies to ensure that the Marsh remains adequately protected.

Today the Environment Agency has announced how it proposes to allocate  over £85 million to reduce the risk of flood and coastal erosion in Southern England over the next financial year.

DOC is delighted to report that the High Knocke to Dymchurch  sea defence scheme has been allocated  a further £11.9 million to complete the ongoing works of this £60 million section , which forms part of the  overall Folkestone to Cliff End Strategy. Once completed,  this section will protect over 6,000 properties from flooding, but still leaves many more thousands of properties on the Marsh  at risk until  the whole strategy has been successfully implemented. Planning and assessment for the remaining sections is ongoing and DOC will do everything within its powers to ensure  that progress will be maintained.

The  AGM of the  All Party Parliamentary Group for Coastal and Marine Issues   took place   yesterday in the Houses of Parliament, Westminster  and DOC was there to represent the Marsh.

It was an excellent opportunity to engage with Lord Smith, Chairman of the Environment Agency , who was the Guest Speaker at the meeting and many pressing issues concerning  sea defences were addressed during a Q & A session which followed his address.

DOC was very much encouraged to hear from Lord Smith that he is a   staunch supporter of Coastal Groups who act on behalf of their wider coastal communities in order to redress the inequality of ‘bargaining power’. Lord Smith said that he hopes  this imbalance between the various Government Agencies who propose Shoreline Management Plans and those communities  who are directly affected by these decisions can be overcome and he is actively encouraging EA staff to work closely with coastal groups in order to give their concerns due consideration. He further hoped that greater transparency and increased  dissemination of information by Government Agencies with coastal groups  would form part of this newly founded initiative.

DOC was given an excellent opportunity to highlight local concerns and raise various issues  concerning the Romney Marsh with Senior Members of Natural England during a meeting held in London on the 12 January 2010. The meeting was attended by numerous coastal groups from all over the country and had been arranged through NVCC ( National Voice for Coastal Communities) of which DOC is a member . Following these initial , but very productive discussions it has been arranged that a further meeting with NE will take place in the near future to continue this newly established dialogue.

Dengemarsh 3.1. 2010

Our Technical Officer , Tony Hills, has just completed his inspection of the beach maintenance work along the Lydd Ranges,  carried out by the Environment Agency over the Christmas break.  His photographs show that the profiling is very ‘thin’  with a lack of available material on the foreshore.

The re-shingling of the gap above Dengemarsh car park heading towards the Power Station’s switch house has completely failed and had been overtopped by the last storm.  There is an urgent need to correct this situation. Read more »

Typical sensor grid pattern

Pioneering tests of the world’s first underwater coastal erosion monitoring system are to take place for the first time next week in Wales. ASTEC ( Automated Sensing Technologies For Coastal Monitoring)  employs a ‘grid of electromagnetic sensors’  which could  save billions of pounds and have a positive  effect on millions of lives around the world by predicting exactly which parts of coastal areas will be eroded,  a  problem affecting approximately 17% of the UK.

With 50-70% of the global population living in coastal zones and rising sea levels accelerated by climate change, this new technology could give scientists the vital information needed to predict what is happening beneath the surface of the sea at our coasts. Until now data  for coastal erosion has been largely obtained by naked eye observations and measurements of exposed coastal areas, such as beaches. But details of what happens below the sea’s surface has generally not been measurable. Read more »

Work on this frontage  is progressing well and  still running to schedule. Newsletter No. 6 concerning this frontage  has just been released by the Environment Agency  and contains an update on what has been happening.

This is the second newsletter issued by the Environment Agency regarding the Broomhill Sands Sea Defence scheme. It provides an update on the work so far carried out under this stage of the scheme development. EA Newsletters are published roughly quarterly and are linked to news on the scheme development.

DOC Meeting- December 2009

DOC held its Christmas Party/Open Evening on the 4 December 2009 in Camber. Council Representatives and Stakeholders from all across the Marsh attended the event , as well as many DOC Members. After a welcoming speech by our Chairman, Terry Preston, our Technical Officer Tony Hills gave a short PowerPoint presentation on the newly purchased laptop and projector during which recent update information received from the Environment Agency concerning the proposed sea defence scheme for the Broomhill Frontage was relayed .This was followed by a brief Q & A session. Everyone enjoyed the evening with a buffet and raffle / auction which had excellent prizes donated by generous DOC supporters. The event was closed by Terry Preston and DOC wishes to thank all its Members and Stakeholders for their continued and enthusiastic support. Read more »