An East Yorkshire Perspective on Coastal Management in the UK
The predominantly rural East Yorkshire coastline is one of the fastest eroding coastlines in Europe, with soft cliffs receding at a rate of almost two metres per year for much of the length of the coast. The nature of the coastline is such that it lends itself to rapid coastal erosion. This is largely due to the combination of loosely consolidated post-glacial sediments and a locally rising sea level. These facts together with a long recorded history of human habitation stretching back at least as far as Roman times has led to the loss of numerous villages and communities to the ravages of the sea. In the last 2000 years, at least 32 villages have been lost to the ravages of the North Sea. Despite this history people and communities persist in living right on the edge – perpetuating the hazard.
Therefore in terms of coastal hazard management the only realistic option is one of managed retreat. The traditional seawall approach is costly and unsustainable, and can not be justified for the entire coastline. Therefore some tough decisions have to be made.
The method currently employed to make decisions regarding coastal defence in the UK is the centrally funded ‘Shoreline Management Plan’ (SMP). This prioritises sea defence for coastal communities and landowners along a length of coast through the use of the cost-benefit analysis. SMPs were first introduced during the mid 1990’s, and are divided up around the coastline of the UK on a sediment cell basis. Each sediment cell is managed by a coastal group consisting of all those authorities or agencies in the area with a responsibility for coastal defence management. However these first SMPs were inherently engineering/economic biased and failed to deliver the necessary alternatives to hard line policies that frequently left small, economically deprived coastal communities on eroding coastlines with those unhelpful words - ‘do nothing’.
Some second generation of SMPs are now beginning to get underway around the UK. There are a number of lessons that have been learned from last time. Particularly it is intended that these second generation SMPs will integrate more closely with the terrestrial planning system (and seek to avoid developmental risk in the first instance). It is also especially important that they also offer more sustainable solutions to coastal hazard issues whilst still being realistic and pragmatic about the realities of coastal hazard management.
The local council in East Yorkshire has attempted to address some of these realities and was one of the first around the UK to try and implement the 2002 EU directive regarding ICZM. One of the major drivers for the adoption of this ICZM Plan was to promote what is known locally as the ‘rollback policy’ - or managed retreat. The rollback policy seeks to provide a measure of assistance to those directly in the path of the retreating coast. This was initially trialled achieving some success with caravan parks, and has recently been extended to now include individual homesteads and farmsteads. However these policies, whilst being more proactive - have largely been forgotten about, ultimately because the required funding and necessary promotion to ensure uptake has not perpetuated.
Currently there is no common approach to coastal zone management in the UK. The most important work in beach and estuarine management is often left to under-funded project based (as opposed to long term) community partnerships with voluntary members and little if any legal clout. The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) are currently in the process of consulting on a proposed Marine Bill to consolidate existing legislation for the UK’s marine environment. The draft legislation is due to be released later this year, and it is likely to cover fisheries management, licensing, a new system of marine spatial planning, and a possible new marine management organisation of some form. A national strategy for integrated coastal zone management is also being prepared this year and will combine with the proposed Marine Bill to offer a more holistic approach to coastal zone management for the UK.
Therefore in terms of coastal hazard management the only realistic option is one of managed retreat. The traditional seawall approach is costly and unsustainable, and can not be justified for the entire coastline. Therefore some tough decisions have to be made.
The method currently employed to make decisions regarding coastal defence in the UK is the centrally funded ‘Shoreline Management Plan’ (SMP). This prioritises sea defence for coastal communities and landowners along a length of coast through the use of the cost-benefit analysis. SMPs were first introduced during the mid 1990’s, and are divided up around the coastline of the UK on a sediment cell basis. Each sediment cell is managed by a coastal group consisting of all those authorities or agencies in the area with a responsibility for coastal defence management. However these first SMPs were inherently engineering/economic biased and failed to deliver the necessary alternatives to hard line policies that frequently left small, economically deprived coastal communities on eroding coastlines with those unhelpful words - ‘do nothing’.
Some second generation of SMPs are now beginning to get underway around the UK. There are a number of lessons that have been learned from last time. Particularly it is intended that these second generation SMPs will integrate more closely with the terrestrial planning system (and seek to avoid developmental risk in the first instance). It is also especially important that they also offer more sustainable solutions to coastal hazard issues whilst still being realistic and pragmatic about the realities of coastal hazard management.
The local council in East Yorkshire has attempted to address some of these realities and was one of the first around the UK to try and implement the 2002 EU directive regarding ICZM. One of the major drivers for the adoption of this ICZM Plan was to promote what is known locally as the ‘rollback policy’ - or managed retreat. The rollback policy seeks to provide a measure of assistance to those directly in the path of the retreating coast. This was initially trialled achieving some success with caravan parks, and has recently been extended to now include individual homesteads and farmsteads. However these policies, whilst being more proactive - have largely been forgotten about, ultimately because the required funding and necessary promotion to ensure uptake has not perpetuated.
Currently there is no common approach to coastal zone management in the UK. The most important work in beach and estuarine management is often left to under-funded project based (as opposed to long term) community partnerships with voluntary members and little if any legal clout. The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) are currently in the process of consulting on a proposed Marine Bill to consolidate existing legislation for the UK’s marine environment. The draft legislation is due to be released later this year, and it is likely to cover fisheries management, licensing, a new system of marine spatial planning, and a possible new marine management organisation of some form. A national strategy for integrated coastal zone management is also being prepared this year and will combine with the proposed Marine Bill to offer a more holistic approach to coastal zone management for the UK.
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