Hemsby's erosion crisis continues after government snub

Norfolk County Council has still yet to receive a response to a letter they sent to the government four months ago urging it to shell out more money to protect the county from coastal erosion.

The letter, which also called for changes to the way the government calculates how much money areas get to tackle erosion, was delivered to environment secretary Steve Barclay at the end of January.

Erosion in Hemsby. (Image: Mike Page)

Hemsby has been one of the area's most severely affected by erosion, having lost 25 homes to the sea in the past decade.

Around the same time the council's letter was sent to Mr Barclay, a hand-delivered petition was sent straight to Number 10.

Signed by people from Hemsby and delivered by members of the campaign group Save Hemsby Coastline (SHC) and the independent lifeboat, the petition only received a response at the end of April.

Campaigners from Hemsby hand-delivered a petition to Number 10 on Monday, January 29. (Image: Hemsby Independent Lifeboat)SHC chairman Simon Measures said: "We feel it just shows a real lack of political will to solve the issue. 

"We were able to get a response from our petition letter. Admittedly, it wasn't a great response, but how the government can just ignore one of its councils is beyond me."

SHC chairman Simon Measures and his wife, Jenny, by Hemsby gap. (Image: James Weeds)

The petition's response, signed by environment undersecretary Robbie Moore, read: "Local authorities, with their communities, are best placed to understand their coasts and to develop the most appropriate approaches to managing risk through Shoreline Management Plans."

The letter continued that £8m had been designated to the authority as part of its Resilient Coasts project "exploring alternatives to coastal defences". It also reiterated that the borough's shoreline management approach for Hemsby’s coastline is managed by realignment.

However, both the petition and the council's letter urged a change to the criteria to allow the impact coastal erosion has on tourist economies - such as the approximately £80m generated in Hemsby each year - but no response was given to this plea.

Environment undersecretary Robbie Moore (Image: UK Parliament)

"Until the criteria is changed, there's really not much that can be done," said Mr Measures.

"But we continue to fight. 

"At the moment we are still working with local companies and pushing forward with short-term plans that would help. We have had support from local businesses and that has been fantastic.

"We also continue discussions with Great Yarmouth Borough Council and Coastal Partnership East - but without that criteria change from the government, progress is slow."

With regards to the letter sent by Norfolk County Council, Conservative leader Kay Mason Billig recently confirmed in response to a question from Colleen Walker - Labour's county councillor for Great Yarmouth's Magdalen ward - that "there has been no response to this letter. We are chasing for a response to this."

HOW IS HEMSBY BEACH DOING?

Mr Measures, who lives on The Marrams, said the cliffs have withstood two recent high tides but have seen around a 30cm decline over the past several months.

He added: "So far so good. But we're just waiting for the next storm. That can always change everything."

Visitors made their way to the beach once Sunday's showers subsided. Hemsby Independent Lifeboat coxswain Daniel Hurd said he and his crew had pumped more sand to the gap to allow better access to people and machinery.

New signs, warning people to keep off the cliffs, have been installed on Hemsby Beach. (Image: James Weeds)"We continue to support the area and have also installed new signs warning people of the dangers of climbing the cliffs which were bought by the Watling Trust," he said.

"But, we still seem to be getting nowhere with the government. 

"It's a disgrace. They know what's been going on for years and they send excuse after excuse.

"It just seems like it's beneath them."