The plight of people in Hemsby, which recently lost 10 metres of cliff in one night – putting 18 homes at risk – sparked Norfolk County Council to unanimously agree to demand further action from the government.
Conservative leaders directed much of their ire at the Environment Agency – the quango supposed to protect and improve the environment.
Graham Plant (Image: Sonya Duncan)
Conservative councillor Graham Plant, who proposed the motion calling on the council to write to the government demanding urgent action, said: “We are being quangoed to death. Nothing is being done by the Environment Agency, except for managed retreat and I think that is an absolute disgrace.”
His motion called for Emma Reynolds, secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs to immediately review coastal erosion and flooding funding formulas.
It also calls for the Environment Agency to update the shoreline management plan for Hemsby and Great Yarmouth, which Mr Plant says dates to 2012 and relies on data from 2005.
It also called for ring-fenced funding and for a fair compensation and relocation framework for people whose homes have been lost to the sea.
James Bensly (Image: Newsquest)
James Bensly, Conservative county councillor for East Flegg division, which includes Hemsby, said: “Norfolk is on the frontline of coastal change, yet coastal communities like Hemsby continue to be treated as afterthoughts in national policy.
“Hemsby is not just a postcode on a map. It is families, small businesses, seasonal workers, visitors, and generations of memories built along a coastline that is now disappearing at a terrifying rate.”
An Environment Agency spokesman said it supported councils in planning for and managing coastal erosion.
The agency said Great Yarmouth Borough Council was a partner in the £8m ‘resilient coasts’ project and part of the £200m flood and coastal innovation programme which aims to “enable the people, economies and environment of these coastal frontages to live and work with a climate resilient coast, exploring alternatives to traditional hard engineered defences”.
And they said £6,000 per property is available to support the prompt and safe demolition of homes at the greatest risk.
The Greens tabled an amendment to the motion, which would have committed the authority to declaring a climate emergency.
Ben Price (Image: Ben Price)
Green Ben Price said: “Storms are more intense. Sea levels are rising. Erosion is accelerating well beyond previous projections.
“Treating this as business as usual simply does not match the reality on the ground. That is why declaring a climate emergency matters.”
However, that amendment was lost, with leader Kay Mason Billig saying: “We don’t declare emergencies in this chamber. We think action speaks louder than words.”
All 55 councillors backed the motion.