Our coastline: Life on the edge?
The furthest point from the coastline in England and Wales is only 110 kilometres and a large proportion of the UK population, about one-third, lives within 10 kilometres of it. With an ever changing coastline – due to climatic conditions, erosion, flooding and sediment supply – how can informed decisions about managing the coast be made? How can the views of community groups, residents, businesses and local authorities be taken into account? What support is available to help our much loved coastal places create jobs and prosperity? Jessica Sellick investigates.
The ‘coast’ is an area where land meets the sea or ocean, with ‘coastal zone’ defining the interaction of sea and land processes. Coasts are dynamic geographical features – comprising soft shores, rocky shores and cliffs, hilly or flat coastal plains, narrow or wide coastal shelves and wetlands. These features constantly change as sediment is deposited (or eroded) and as a result of a landslip or weathering. The coast is also important to those of us who live near it, work close to it or spend a lot of our leisure time there. It has attracted human activity for thousands of years – from traditional recreational pastimes such as enjoying the views and sightseeing to more modern activities such as kite surfing, parakarting and fossil collecting! The coast is a focus of important economic activities, from fishing and ports to offshore energy generation. Yet many coastal communities face a series of challenges: they often have a high proportion of retirees, transitory populations and benefit claimants, with huge pressures placed upon public services during summer months. They also suffer because of their physical isolation and seasonal/low wage economies. What can we learn from these physical processes and human challenges? How might understanding the trajectory of costal places be harnessed to generate successful economic futures? I offer three points.
Firstly, the effects of physical processes vary considerably from one part of the coastline to another. In some places change is happening very gradually (if at all), yet in other areas landslips leads to many metres of land being lost during one event. Research carried out for Defra concluded that of the 4,500km of coastline in England, 1,800km is at risk of erosion (340km of which is defended); 200 properties are presently vulnerable to coastal erosion but this will increase to 2,000 residential properties by 2029; and 15km of major road and railway may become vulnerable. The Environment Agency’s climate change predictions suggest that building and maintaining flood defences will need to double to £1 billion a year by 2035 (compared to £570 million now). In 2011, the Environment Agency published a Strategy, ‘investing for the future’, setting out the scale of the risk and the benefits of different investment options. This included proposals for broadening sources of outlay so that local areas invest more in their own protection. Subsequently, the Agency launched a series of pilot maps to provide information for communities and residents on how coastal erosion could affect where they live over the next 20 years. Maps for the rest of England are currently in preparation. On the one hand, understanding and predicting how physical processes impact upon the coastline enables individuals and communities to make choices about how much money should be invested in managing risks and who/where this might come from. On the other hand, the focus is often on direct physical impacts (e.g. quantifying the potential loss or deterioration of land, buildings and infrastructure) which can act as an obstacle to economic development, crowding out other investments and stifling development proposals.
Secondly, the data modelling and strategies suggest that a one size fits all approach is inappropriate when managing a changing coastline. At a policy level coastal is sometimes adopted as an additional category, over and above ‘urban’ and ‘rural’ areas that happen to include some coastline. ‘Coastal’ has therefore attracted a number of initiatives and funding streams over the last 15 years. These include: The Coastal Pathfinders, Sea Change, Regional Flood and Coastal Committees (RFCC), the Flood and Coastal Resilience Partnership Funding (from Defra), the Coastal Communities Fund (CCF), the VALMER project, iCoast and the creation of a National Trail. Academic and practitioner studies have also looked at the issues and needs facing coastal communities, from a review of the evidence base and a benchmarking study (for Communities and Local Government) to a Coastal Regeneration Handbook (produced for Coastal Communities Alliance and targeted at local authorities). More recently, ‘coastal’ permeates the Natural Environment White Paper (NEWP), Localism Act and National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) which recognise the ecosystem services the coast provides alongside a need for public bodies to work across administrative boundaries on strategic priorities such as coastal change management. Taken as a collective, this work not only illuminates the deficiency of a national strategy for coastal places and communities but also opens up a series of debates about where ‘coastal’ fits (as a standalone category or amid an array of legal and decision making arrangements?) and how to provide co-ordinated solutions across administrative boundaries.
Thirdly, these physical and policy making processes should not overshadow the real and significant challenges that many coastal communities face. The 2012 Rural Vulnerability Index (RVI) produced by the Rural Services Network (RSN) and Rose Regeneration found coastal rural authorities were becoming more vulnerable (e.g. Thanet, Eastbourne, North Devon, Hastings, Weymouth & Portland, Waveney, Tendring and Shepway). The RVI measures the impact of the recession on local authority areas – using the indicators of wage levels, public sector job stock, the number of JSA claimants and the percentage of the population of working age. In some instances the economic vulnerability of coastal authorities is increasing due to their susceptibility to rising sea level and flood risk. Similarly, the RVI highlights some of the common challenges facing coastal places (e.g. low wage, low skill, seasonal jobs, high levels of benefit dependency, ageing and transient populations). However, the entrepreneurial activity and innovativeness of individuals and communities in tackling some of these challenges should not be overlooked – from capitalising on the success of the ‘staycation’ to the shift towards a low carbon economy and renewable energy. With an ever changing coastline hearing different coastal voices – communities, businesses, and local authorities – remains important. How do you protect coastal ecosystems, integrate marine and terrestrial planning and consider issues around the economy, transport, energy, heritage and access to services? How can we ensure that initiatives are not undertaken in isolation (i.e., targeted at physical processes, economic growth or community development)? How can we strengthen their appeal as places to live, work and visit?
To explore the issues raised here further, the Rural Services Network is holding an event on coasts on 4 December 2012 at The Pavilion Theatre in Bournemouth. The event will include presentations from the Coastal Communities Alliance (CCA), a network of local authorities sharing best practice, collaborating on projects/initiatives and influencing Government policy-making; and Weymouth and Portland Borough Council outlining the legacy of the 2012 sailing Olympics and Paralympics. For more information and to book your place at this free event please contact Wendy Cooper by email wendy.cooper@sparse.gov.uk or telephone 01822 813693.
Rose Regeneration has particular empathy and enthusiasm for coastal issues; believing this to be a frequently neglected area of public policy with an often misunderstood context. Our work in coastal places includes, the development of a strategy for the Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Fisheries Local Action Group, various business and community led regeneration initiatives in Skegness and Mablethorpe, developing the Rural Vulnerability Index (with the Rural Services Network) and contributing to the Coastal Regeneration Handbook. A previous article for the RSN on coastal futures can be found here. Website: www.roseregeneration.co.uk Jessica can be contacted by email jessica.sellick@roseregeneration.co.uk or telephone 01522 521211.
