Publication: “Selsey Life” August 2007

SOS

Thanks to Ray Lomas and XL Graphics, we now have a display board which we have been able to put to good use at local events such as Sea Selsey, and the Seal School Fete. We hope to have a stand at Lifeboat Day (5th August) and at the Selsey Carnival Fete (25th August), with a lively information display. Please contact us if you want to help out, or join us in the Carnival procession on 26th August.

At Sea Selsey we launched Selsey’s new “must have” item: our new SOS tee shirts! The launch was helped by a group of enthusiastic children who were photographed by the local press, and filmed by Chichester TV (see the coverage at www.tvchichester.com). The tee shirts are available from the SOS stand at events, and hopefully, in local shops in the near future.

At our Sea Selsey stand, a lot of visiting caravan owners came across the coast defence issue for the first time, and were shocked at the proposals to abandon Medmerry beach. They registered as SOS supporters, and we welcome their support. If you haven’t registered yet, it is a simple procedure, doesn’t cost anything, and shows you support the SOS campaign. You can register online (www.saveourselsey.org), or at one of our registration boxes (located at Selsey Town Hall reception, and at “In Stiches”, 89 High St). Every name helps.

It is the growing number of supporters that has given us “key partner” status with the Environment Agency. We met the Agency to discuss what influence this would give us in developing the coastal strategy (our thanks to Selsey Town Council for providing a meeting room). The Agency’s initial offer was inadequate, so negotiations are continuing.

We also met with Malcolm Kerby, from Happisburgh, North Norfolk. This is a small, close-knit seaside village, which gets most of its income from a caravan park, and whose lifeboat station had to be moved due to coastal erosion (Malcolm’s on the crew)…like Selsey in many ways. Happisburgh, too, is threatened by a coastal strategy that suggests it should be left to disappear. Sadly, many houses have recently fallen into the sea there, and people have been made homeless.

Malcolm has been co-ordinator of his local coastal campaign, CCAG, for 8 years, and is an acknowledged expert on coastal defence (he was recently invited to join the All Party Parliamentary Group on Coastal Issues). Our meeting was very positive, with SOS and CCAG agreeing to maintain close links and help each other on various issues. Malcolm’s wealth of experience will be extremely useful to SOS’s campaign.

By the time this goes to press, DEFRA should be considering whether to fund the repairs to the collapsed sea wall at West Beach. SOS will be strongly supporting Chichester District Council in trying to get this funding. However, if DEFRA won’t fund the works, the wall will still need protection from winter storms, and the September start date should not be missed.