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our Selsey
Campaign for Coastal Defence
Selsey Life March ‘09
Campaign for Coastal Protection – Good News for a Change!
It is such a delight to be able to report some good news! The first item concerns East Beach, where work began in February to repair and refurbish some of the 52 timber and steel groynes. Various other improvements are planned at the same time, including minor works to the sea wall along the East Beach frontage.
The background to this unexpected opportunity to apply for funds is that, in its attempt to stimulate the economy, the Government brought forward some of its national coast defence budget as a one-off measure. We were hoping something like this would happen and were keeping a close eye on Treasury announcements.
We congratulate the District Council for putting in an application quickly and are delighted funding was approved. When repaired, the wooden groynes on this section of beach may last a further 10 years. It should not be forgotten however that, despite these repairs, it is estimated some £20m of major updating will be needed along East Beach's coast defences in the next 20 years.
The challenge now is to continue this process and create a proactive maintenance programme for the town's coastline. Currently Selsey is unlikely to get money to rebuild its sea walls if any fell down but, by timely repairs and "enhanced maintenance" (e.g. protecting them with additional boulders and shingle), they can be kept going, which is absolutely vital; this is because we're told a total of £30m will be needed for Selsey's coast defences in the next 20 years. If we want our children to grow up and live in Selsey as many of us have done, we have to start addressing this long-term funding issue. It's essential we keep the coast defences going in the meantime.
The other item of good news concerns the maintenance of the Medmerry frontage prior to implementation of realignment. This was the subject of a meeting, organised by the Manhood Peninsula Steering Group, between the Environment Agency, local businesses and residents, SOS and Selsey Town Council. It was felt that occasional but regular meetings could provide a mechanism for relationship building between the community and the EA, which could also assist the EA in its maintenance operations. The community would find out what maintenance operations were being carried out/planned and be able to provide useful feedback to the EA, plus a channel of communication regarding the beach maintenance would be established. The first meeting was held in January this year and was felt to be extremely useful. The EA confirmed that they will continue to maintain the shingle flood defence to its current standard, until such time as managed realignment works take place. A further meeting is planned for later this year.
As mentioned in February’s issue, Save Our Selsey’s Annual General Meeting is due to take place on Wednesday, 11 March 2009, 7.30 p.m. at Selsey Town Hall and we hope that many of you will be able to attend. The formalities will be dealt with as swiftly as possible, leaving time for your questions on this challenging and ongoing issue of our coastal defences.
Contact us: via www.saveourselsey.org or by letter hand delivered to the SOS box in the reception area of Selsey Town Council, for which facility we are deeply grateful.