Renewed calls for new sea defences at Hemsby as Storm Ciaran hits
A yellow weather warning for wind is now in place across Norfolk's East coast
Last updated 2nd Nov 2023
Residents in a Norfolk village being battered by coastal erosion are warning that their access to water and power could be lost due to Storm Ciaran - and are renewing their calls for permanent sea defences.
A Met Office yellow weather warning for wind is now in place, and runs until the end of the day across Norfolk's East coast.
Several homes in the area have already been lost to erosion this year, and recently, Hemsby's lifeboat was left unable to launch, after high tides and windy conditions led to the loss of 3-4 metres in dunes.
There's currently a temporary rock barrier in place at the popular holiday destination, but residents and local leaders there have long called for a 'Rock Berm', which were expected to cost around £15m.
"If we had more of these, it would buy us time"
Simon Measures is chair of 'Save Hemsby Coastline' and lives on 'The Marrams':
"We all have little markers on the dunes. It might be a fence post or a telegraph pole, for example. But whenever we see them, we think 'as long as that's still there, I know I'm alright'. But when one of our neighbours loses there home, that marker has so much more significance.
"What local decision makers should be doing is looking at protecting the access road on The Marrams, for as long as they can. They've done it here at Gap, with this stretch of rocks. It's perfectly protected the dune behind it and if we had more of these, it would buy us time."
"The danger is going to be after the storm"
He told us how the demolition of a home last weekend is affecting people:
"It adds a level of panic. I know people who hear the sea being fairly rough, and it's the middle of the night and they'll wake up in a panic and won't be able to get back to sleep, as they fear the next wave will be the one that causes somebody to bang on their door and say, you have to leave now.
"The danger is going to be after the storm. Especially when there's still a swell - that contains the power of the sea, plus low pressure, a fairly full moon and a slight change in the wind - and chunks of the dunes could be taken down very quickly"
What's being done to help Hemsby?
In a joint statement, Great Yarmouth Borough Council (GYBC), Coastal Partnership East (the council’s coastal management team), Great Yarmouth MP Sir Brandon Lewis, and Norfolk County Council, said: ‘’For many years, Great Yarmouth Borough Council and Coastal Partnership East, with the support of Sir Brandon Lewis and Norfolk County Council, have sought to secure protection for Hemsby.
‘’The proposed rock scheme at Hemsby was costed at about £15m several years ago. However, due to inflation, the cost is now likely to be significantly higher.
‘’The primary source of funding for the proposed work would be via a Flood Defence Grant-in-Aid (FDGIA) from the Government and the amount of funding available depends on the number of assets (mainly residential properties) that would benefit from a reduced risk of erosion once the scheme is completed. Currently schemes of this cost and scale would only attract FDGIA where hundreds of homes are at risk.
‘’GYBC, Norfolk County Council and Sir Brandon have proactively lobbied over a number of years to argue the case for Hemsby - including meeting the Environment Agency recently. However, currently, the proposed scheme for Hemsby doesn’t qualify for sufficient Government funding to allow it to progress.
‘’It is also the case that the proposed scheme for Hemsby would only serve to slow down erosion in the area, it would not stop it entirely. The proposed scheme, as it stands, would also most likely have a significant impact on the beach because much of the remaining beach would be covered by rock after the work was carried out.
‘’In April of this year, GYBC was extremely fortunate to have access to a stockpile of rock which it was able to buy. There is no further rock available at the moment because it is not usually stockpiled due to the significant cost for any local authority to have it ‘on standby’.’’
‘’The emergency work carried out in April was intended to mitigate the potential impact of erosion at the northern end of The Marrams and to try to protect access (to the maximum amount of properties for the amount of rock available) further south along The Marrams. Last weekend (October 14/15), there was some further dune and cliff erosion in Hemsby to the north of the rock, towards the main beach access. However, similar erosion was not seen where the rock was placed.
‘’Given this context, GYBC is looking at what funding and powers are available to try to avoid further emergency scenarios of people moving out of their homes literally overnight.
‘’We are preparing for what now appears to be the inevitable situation of losing more properties, either by the loss of the access road or directly from erosion. We are actively engaging with the residents of those properties which are likely to be affected to understand what support they will need to respond now to the risk of further erosion.
‘’GYBC is also in continued dialogue with the landowner to find out what assistance they intend to provide to people affected.’’