A key issue will be how coastal management is likely to change under the new coalition Government and the massive spending cuts, particularly those to Natural England, which has been targeted to lose a third of its workforce over the next two years.

One of the main issues is if land is to be lost to see, who and how determines winners and losers between homeowners, wildlife, farmers and general taxpayers. Currently it seems that the Shoreline Management Plan (SMP) process is not really up to the job.

Read the meeting notes here for more detail on the discussions.

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.

Source: http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/news/108709.aspx?month=6&year=2009&coverage=Southern&sector=Flood

“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.

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

Meeting Notes

Living Landscapes presentation

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

1. Although the impacts of climate change on biodiversity have been the subject of much discussion and research, it is still difficult to provide an firm predictions, particularly at a local scale, because of the way in which different and unrelated ecological effects may combine. For example, ground temperature can be affected by altitude, aspect, and vegetation height; this makes it difficult to extrapolate impacts simply from maps showing shifts in air temperature.

2. However, as noted in the Defra document ‘Conserving biodiversity in a changing climate: guidance on building capacity to adapt’[1], a number of direct key impacts of climate change upon biodiversity have been identified from observational data and models of future trends. They include:

· Changes in the timings of seasonal events, leading to loss of synchrony between species and the availability of food, and other resources upon which they depend.

· Shifts in suitable climate conditions for individual species leading to change in abundance and range

· Changes in the habitats which species occupy.

· Changes to the composition of plant and animal communities.

· Changes to habitats and ecosystems, such as altered water regimes, increased rates of decomposition in bogs and higher growth rates in forests.

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

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.