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What's happening at the moment?
The new CDS will probably be approved by late 2009/early 2010 (but the timetable is slipping):
- The “initial CDS consultation” ended in March 2007
- The “Draft CDS”, to be published in May 2008, should take into account what local people said. The authorities are working on this now.
- After the Draft CDS is published, there is a statutory 12 week period of consultation.
- In August 2008 the Full CDS may be published, to be approved by the District Councils and Environment Agency, and submitted to the government by November 2008
- The government will probably approve the CDS by November 2010.
The Environment Agency had promised SOS that we would be a “key partner” during the period of strategy development closed to public consultation. We thought this meant we would be able to influence the emerging Strategy, but our experience so far suggests this is not true.
The SMP is something most of you will not have heard about. It is perhaps more important than the CDS. It is a coastal plan that determines broad coastal policies from Hurst Point to Selsey Bill. The CDS is a “lower level” plan that fits within the SMP. The SMP can dictate a policy of “hold the line” or “managed retreat” or even “do nothing” for a particular stretch of coastline.
The SMP group is a “voluntary” grouping of local authorities, quangos and other organisations that will decide what the SMP policies are. Chichester District Council have one vote on this body, and so does West Sussex County Council. We are very keen for both local authorities to use their influence and votes to fight pressure to flood areas of the Manhood Peninsula, which is coming from Natural England (which is part of the SMP group).
More on this shortly.
SOS is a grouping of residents, but we took up our local MP, Andrew Tyrie’s, suggestion to form a group that linked residents, businesses and local government, all focussed on the issue of coast defence, across the whole Manhood and Chichester Harbour areas.
We brought together these different groups into a body called the Manhood Peninsula Steering Group (MPSG). It includes resident groups (SOS, Ham residents’ group, West Wittering Residents’ group), businesses (Chichester Chamber of Commerce, Selsey Business Partnership, Bunn Leisure, Nature’s Way Foods, West Wittering Estates), Landowners (various farmers from the Manhood) and councillors from Selsey Town Council & Chichester District Council. It is co-chaired by Mr Tyrie and Roland O’Brien.
The MPSG has a subgroup called the MPSG-Project Board, which consists of members who are actively researching specific issues to do with coast defence. These include the costs and benefits of coast defence, environmental policy, government flood defence policy, alternative solutions to coast defence, etc. These members report back to the wider MPSG, and it is hoped that this collective group will exert greater influence on coastal defence policy than its members can do on their own.
SOS agrees with the MPSG’s “mission statement”, and many of our members are actively involved in assisting the MPSG with research.
On 23rd October, STC hosted a workshop to consider the possibility of an offshore reef as a means of protecting Selsey’s vulnerable western shoreline and the coast from Selsey to Bracklesham. SOS decided to contribute the £500 we had been offered by ESPACE for our own “climate change awareness” event, to this venture.
The workshop brought together resident groups, businesses, coastal experts, wind and tide power providers and local representatives, to discuss the reef idea. The event showed that there are formidable hurdles to cross if an offshore reef is to be viable. Key is the depth of water in which it would be constructed, and the construction materials, as these have a huge impact on the cost.
Our view is that such a scheme, or one like it, would have to be part of a regeneration initiative for Selsey and the Manhood. It would need active positive support from all local authorities. It would also need a lot of private sector investment. We believe there are a number of interesting angles to pursue, and will continue to explore this possibility.
Meanwhile, we congratulate the Town Council on organising this event.
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