A Monthly Publication

By Andrew Murray

 The January edition of the Newsletter with its amazing snow and firework cover picture dropped through my letter box on 5^th. January.  Mr Jim Welham’s article about ‘Canute the Second’ was very timely because that evening Mr. Peter Dawe braved the weather to talk to us about the threat of climate change and the feasibility of building a barrage across the Wash from Hunstanton to the Lincolnshire Coast.  The Environment Agency is predicting that sea levels will rise by some 1100 mm. before the end of this century.  In 2007, the water level came to within 80 mm. of overtopping or perhaps breaching the defences and flooding the Fens.  Much of Fenland (about 3855 sq. km.) is at or below the present mean sea level but home to half a million people, 88% of land is cultivated and makes up about 50% of all the grade 1, most productive, farmland in England.  37% of all vegetables produced in England are grown in the rich fertile soils of the fens.

 A Wash Barrier stretching the 18 km across the mouth of the Wash from Hunstanton to the Lincolnshire coast plus another 5 km to reach higher ground would be an alternative to raising the height of the defences all around the perimeter of the Wash and up the tidal rivers, a distance of some 200 km.  Although the Wash is 40 m. deep in the middle, much of the line is in shallow water.  Construction costs have been estimated at £ 1.5 bn. with perhaps as much again for remedial works. In addition to stopping habitats being squeezed or destroyed, the tidal water flow could generate 4 giga watts of electricity, the equivalent of 2 or 3 nuclear power stations or some 2 to 3 % of energy needs of the UK.  As 1 giga watt of electricity for a year would be worth    £ 1 bn. the finances seem to stack up.  The present stumbling block appears to be the need to spend from £ 3 to £ 10 million on obtaining permissions with no guarantee of commercial advantage for that outlay.

 Mr. Dawe said that there would be some infrastructure needed both during construction and afterwards but the site of the landfall would be for local communities to discuss and decide upon in due course.  The barrier needed to reach high ground; that could be the cliffs but it could end further South or further North East.

 An application for planning permission has been submitted to redevelop the former Kit Kat site.  The proposal is for three retail units on the ground floor with 25 apartments above rising up to six storeys.  The Civic Society is keen to see the derelict area redeveloped but came to the conclusion that that building would be wrong for that site.  We are promoting a site swap in which part of the car park behind Harlequin House owned by the Borough Council could be developed as a hotel to provide some year round employment, leaving the Kit Kat site available for relocation of the amusement business currently located in the hangar on The Green.

 The Hunstanton cliffs are currently the only section of the Wash that is totally unprotected by any form of flood defence.  The Wash Shoreline Management Plan  2 is proposing to permit the cliffs to continue to erode until such time as there is a serious threat to the B1161 and properties along Cliff Parade.  Since the promenade was built in 1956, there has been preferential erosion of the cliffs just to the North of the promenade.  Because erosion is due to a combination of surface water seeping through the rock and wave action at the base of the cliffs, we do not think that erosion can be completely stopped.  It would therefore seem prudent to investigate ways and means by which that rate of erosion may be decreased either by impregnating the rock structure or by protecting the base of the cliffs from the full force of the waves.  The grass area along the cliff top linking the esplanade gardens with the lighthouse area is an important feature of the resort. We have recommended commencing action now whilst there is still some leeway.

 For full details of the Civic Society response to the Kit Kat application or to the Shoreline Management Plan, a diary of events, sections on the town’s history and a photograph gallery, please see our regularly updated web site www.hunstanton-civic-society.org  

Committee meetings are open and held in the meeting room at the Council Offices in Valentine Road. The next one is scheduled for Tuesday February 16^th. at 11.30. Any member is most welcome to attend

Hunstanton Civic Society Talks for the rest of this Season.