The RSPB kindly hosted the Forum’s last meeting at their flagship reserve at Dungeness and gave an excellent presentation on how they see the challenges of climate change.

Notes and slides from the last two meetings are downloadable from Protect Kent:

Meeting 7:  Canterbury Christ Church University

Meeting 8: RSPB

A new report from the Environment Agency today has shown that with over 9000 properties at a significant chance of flooding, Shepway in Kent is one of the top 10 areas in the country with the highest number of properties at significant risk.

A new report from the Environment Agency today has shown that with over 9000 properties at a significant chance of flooding, Shepway in Kent is one of the top 10 areas in the country with the highest number of properties at significant risk.

The Environment Agency today issued new figures showing 1 in 6 homes in England at risk of flooding and warned that this number is set to increase as climate change increases the risk of coastal erosion and flooding from rivers and the sea.

The Shepway area is extremely low-lying with around 24 per cent of properties in the Shepway area at some risk of flooding from the sea and rivers. The Environment Agency and Shepway District Council are working together to reduce flood risk where possible in the area.

In Dymchurch, work on the second stage of a £60 million sea defence project is currently underway. The original defences were at the end of their life and extremely vulnerable. The work to improve defences will significantly reduce flood risk for nearly two and a half thousand homes in the area. Following the Folkestone to Cliff End strategy published in 2008 on how flood and erosion can be managed between Folkestone to Cliff End, the Environment Agency is now hoping to get funding for further schemes at Broomhill Sands, Lydd Ranges and Romney Sands.

Mark Douch, Kent & East Sussex Flood Risk Manager said: “The latest UK climate change data shows that the risk of flooding and coastal erosion around the country will continue to increase in future with rising sea levels and more frequent and heavy storms. We all have to make important decisions about how to manage these risks to protect people, communities, businesses and the economy in future.

“We are working with our colleagues at Shepway District Council to reduce flood risk where we can in the area. Our £60 million scheme in Dymchurch will increase protection to nearly two and a half thousand homes and with several other schemes planned in the area, we hope many more people living in Shepway will soon benefit from improved protection from flooding. But whilst continued investment in managing these risks is crucial, we cannot always prevent flooding. Together with Shepway District Council, we are also working with those communities at risk to help them understand that risk and what measures they can take to prepare for a flood.”

Cllr Robert Bliss, Leader of Shepway District Council, said the council was alert to the risks posed by sea level rise and climate change in a district which has vast tracks of low-lying marshes.

“Our planning blueprint for the future, the Local Development Framework, directs development from areas identified as having the highest flood risk. We cannot change our district’s landscape but we can be alert to the problems facing it and, working in partnership with Environment Agency, we can do as much as we can to mitigate the risks to homes and businesses.”

One of the biggest coast protection schemes ever carried out on the district’s shoreline was completed in 2004.  The £13m Hythe to Folkestone Harbour Coast Protection Scheme was designed to significantly reduce the risk of coastal flooding and erosion for the next 50 years and protects around 3,000 homes and commercial assets to an approximate value of £20million.

A new report from the Environment Agency today has shown that with over 9000 properties at a significant chance of flooding, Shepway in Kent is one of the top 10 areas in the country with the highest number of properties at significant risk.

“The earth’s climate is changing and the impacts are already being felt in Europe and across the world.

Global temperatures are predicted to continue rising, bringing changes in weather patterns, rising sea levels and increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as storms, floods, droughts and heat waves. Such climatic events can have a major impact on households, businesses, critical infrastructure (transport, energy and water supply) and vulnerable sections of society (elderly, disabled, poor income households) as well as having a major economic impact. We must therefore prepare to cope with living in a changing climate. This process is known as adaptation.

In April 2009 the European Commission presented a policy paper known as a White Paper which presents the framework for adaptation measures and policies to reduce the European Union’s vulnerability to the impacts of climate change.”

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/adaptation/index_en.htm

We can now confirm that we have successfully booked a room (Hpf06) at our (CCCU’s) Hall Place campus for the afternoon (from 2.00pm) of May 29th next for the next Climate Change committee meeting. So Alex Fairburn can show the results of her investigation into habitat loss from river or potential sea flooding. Directions for getting to Hall Place can be found from the www.canterbury.ac.uk web site.

At the 6th meeting of the Kent Climate Change Forum we heard an excellent presentation from Richard Moyse of the Kent Wildlife Trust who spoke about the changes that are already being seen in some species and the concept of ‘Living Landscapes’ which ties key habitats together to make them more robust.

Meeting Notes

Living Landscapes presentation

The next meeting is on Thursday 5th, hosted by Kent Wildlife Trust at their headquarters at Tyland Barn, near Maidstone.

The topic will be Wildife and Climate Change, below is an extract of the paper prepared by Richard Moyse:

“Decisions about any new coal-fired power plants in the UK have been delayed until the autumn, prompting warnings from energy companies about the growing risk that the country could run out of electricity generating capacity.

Ministers were due to make a decision last year on an application to build the first new coal plant in the UK for a generation at Kingsnorth in Kent – a move expected to trigger submissions for further projects.”

Source: Guardian

Action with Communities in Rural Kent and CPRE Kent have organised a climate change community awareness day to be held on 14 March at Lenham Community Centre.

The one day event will start at 9.30am and focus on how climate change may impact on Kent as well as raising awareness of how Parish Plan priorities relate to climate change.

If you have questions you would like answering about climate change and would like to find out more about how your community can become a low carbon society, this event is a fantastic opportunity to get answers!

The event aims to enable Parish Plan teams to include climate change actions within their plans and to ‘green’ other actions such as transport and local services. The day will provide a great chance to network and generate ideas, enthusiasm and cooperation.

Sean Furey said: “The impacts of climate change present a very real threat to homes and businesses in Kent.

This workshop will show how individuals and communities can come together to make a difference and create a positive future.” The cost for this unique day is £27.50. For more information and to book tickets, please contact Kathy Bugden on 01303 813790.

UK should change building design, transport and energy infrastructure ahead of climate change and high sea levels. (Guardian, 13 February 2009)

On 22nd January, Kevin Attwood, Chairman of the Kent NFU, gave an excellent presentation on the future of farming in Kent. This was followed by a lively discussion with members of the Forum, including, CPRE Kent, Kent Wildlife Trust, RSPB, the National Trust, Commonwork and Hadlow College.

A number of Hadlow students also sat in on the debate and made positive contributions.

The NFU position seemed clear that, as an industry, agriculture feels confident at being able to adapt to future changes and would do so in response to regulation and market forces.

The question this creates is how quickly is climate change (and increasing energy and food scarcity) going to happen, and will government policy and market forces keep up?

To read more about the debate download the meeting notes for meeting 5.

Next meeting: “Living landscapes and climate change”, 2pm, 5 March 2009, at Kent Wildlife Trust, Tyland Barn, Sandling, Maidstone.