As member of the NVCC (National Voice for Coastal Communities) DOC was given an opportunity to meet with Senior Staff from the Environment Agency at their  headquarters in London yesterday in order to highlight various concerns and issues arising from sea defence policies affecting the Marsh. The three hour meeting proved to be very productive [...]

DOC Committee Members have been busy behind the scenes attending meetings with Natural England, both in London and on regional level,  discussing progress on the Broomhill  Sea Defence Scheme with the Environment Agency and generally ensuring that we remain actively involved on behalf of all our members and local communities to ensure that adequate provisions [...]

DOC is calling for emergency repairs as the sea over-tops the southern shore! The recent extreme weather has severely damaged our shingle defences and DOC is calling for the planned sea defence schemes to be accelerated. Areas such as Dengemarsh, Galloways and Jury’s Gap have seen massive damage caused  to the shingle crest during the [...]

Defra has just published  “Adapting to Coastal Change: Developing a Policy Framework.” The document sets out Defra’s ideas and guidance on how communities should plan for change as well as looking at the  implications/impacts  for  communities,  business, local infrastructure  etc.  It is the first stage in an  evolving  framework of policy and guidance from Defra [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 ( [...]

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 [...]