October – Selsey Life – SOS
The Environment Agency (EA) has started preliminary
investigations on the managed realignment scheme at Medmerry. This is
the scheme to create a new intertidal harbour (with saltmarshes - like
Pagham Harbour) between Selsey and Bracklesham.
The EA believe that creating this
flooded area, with new earth embankments around it, will mean Selsey is
better protected from Coastal flooding.
It will be several years before any
major changes take place, but meanwhile the EA has bought over 1300
acres of land, and has been checking onsite ground conditions, drainage
etc to work out the best place to put the new inland embankments. The
likely outcome will be a saltmarsh of approximately 750 acres,
surrounded by about 550 acres of grassland or grazing marsh.
Medmerry will be the first managed realignment to
be done on an open, exposed, coastline in the UK. This is one reason the
EA are doing extensive computer modelling to predict the likely changes
that will result from letting the sea into this area.
SOS is a member of MSTAG (the Medmerry Stakeholder
Advisory Group), newly set up by the EA so that local people can have
input into the scheme. MSTAG is “advisory”: this does not mean it
tells the EA what to do! Rather, it informs the EA about local opinion
and suggests how the scheme can be enhanced or improved. The EA will
listen, but is the final decision-making body. This is because the EA
itself has to work within parameters set by Government.
Within these constraints, the EA (and
everyone else) wants the best scheme possible, so participation through
MSTAG is a valuable process and it is one we at SOS take very seriously.
At the first meeting the EA presented a
number of potential embankment alignments. These would determine the
extent and location of the flooded area, which in turn has implications
for the effectiveness of the scheme as a flood defence, and future
public access to our coastline and countryside.
SOS’s preference is for a similar
alignment to the one in last year’s public consultation. In our view it
is the best of the available options in terms of flood protection,
long-term maintenance costs, and public amenity value.
To find out more visit our website,
www.saveourselsey.org, where
we will be placing a link to the embankment options page of the EA’s
website.
At the time of writing, Bunn Leisure’s
coast protection scheme has not yet got planning consent, but we
understand it should be decided by late October. We believe this scheme
is not just vital for Bunn Leisure but also for Selsey’s wellbeing. The
caravan park visitors keep our town’s shops solvent, and the parks are
Selsey’s single largest employer. Hopefully there will be positive news
on this in next month’s issue – meanwhile you can keep up to date via
our website.
Save
our Selsey