Yahoo News Seaside village ‘denied’ £25m for new sea defences despite erosion threat
Residents in Happisburgh, Norfolk, say they feel “betrayed” after not being included in the new scheme.
Residents in a seaside village threatened by coastal erosion say they feel “betrayed” after not being included in a new £25m sea defence scheme.
Works to build rock defences at Cromer and Mundesley, in Norfolk, got underway last week as part of a multimillion-pound government-funded scheme. However, Happisburgh will not benefit from the initiative - despite erosion progressing at twice the rate projected.
The village's famous lighthouse, 15th-century church, and village pub could all soon be claimed by the North Sea. Hundreds of homes, businesses, and the village's clifftop car park are also at serious risk of falling into the water.
Around 5.7 million properties were at risk of flooding in England across 2022 and 2023 and this number is set to increase as climate change brings increasingly intense downpours more often.
'We feel betrayed'
Bryony Nierop-Reading, 78, whose Beach Road home in Happisburgh is next in line to be lost to the sea, said locals are "livid" that the village has not received any funding.
She said: "We feel betrayed by the government and that it’s totally unpatriotic to let chunks of the country, like Happisburgh, be lost to the sea. I don’t think there’s anybody in Happisburgh who’s not upset by this. We’re in as much need as Mundesley is."
Nierop-Reading now fears she has just months left in her three-bedroom home as once again it is being threatened by the cliffs which are just 80 feet (25m) away.
Clive Stockton, who has owned the Hill House Inn for more than 30 years, said thousands of years of heritage is set to be lost. He added: "The vast majority of people have no idea what’s at risk of being lost. All that we own, our only asset the pub and our home, is now worthless. The government has stolen our retirement, which is no longer an option."
Liz Howard, who lives on the front line in Beach Road, said: "Every morning we look out of our windows to see how much closer it’s getting. I look at Happisburgh as a place of medieval history – a settlement for thousands of years which people still call home today.
"In the long term, what are they doing to Norfolk if Happisburgh is washed away? We’ll lose all that history."
It comes as villagers in Hemsby, Norfolk, have seen dozens of homes lost in recent months and are asking for up to £20m in funding for a coastal defence scheme.
The Save Hemsby Coastline (SHC) campaign group handed in a petition signed by 17,000 people to 10 Downing Street calling for action. The group warned over 120 homes in the area will be threatened in the next 20 years, but the village has lost 10 in the last 12 months alone.
Failed targets
The Environment Agency (EA) has failed to meet its target of maintaining 98% of "high consequence" flood defences – the most common type – and has had to downgrade the number of properties it aims to protect by 2027 from 336,000 to 200,000.
A lack of resources also means that new developments are being built in flood plains without the Environment Agency or Local Planning Authorities ensuring there are flood risk mitigation measures, which the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) described as "unforgivable". The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said it has invested £1.5bn of its flood defence programme and has improved protection for over 67,000 properties.
Meanwhile, Labour has accused the government of being “asleep at the wheel” when it comes to coastal landfill sites facing erosion and flooding. Over 1,000 are thought to be at risk of spilling their toxic contents into the sea which could then damage ecosystems, wildlife or people.
Recommended reading
Villagers warn of becoming 'environmental refugees' due to coastal erosion (Yahoo News UK)
200,000 properties at risk because of deteriorating flood defences, say MPs (PA)
