Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Adam May & Sam Russell, PA

Entire British seaside towns may have to MOVE or face falling into the sea

Some of the UK's coastal towns and villages may have to move - or face falling into the sea.

That's the warning that will be issued by the head of Environmental Agency as rising sea levels and erosion threaten a number of the country's coastal areas.

Sir James Bevan will tell a flooding and coastal erosion conference that the “hardest of all inconvenient truths” is that “in the long term, climate change means that some of our communities – both in this country and around the world – cannot stay where they are”.

“That is because while we can come back safely and build back better after most river flooding, there is no coming back for land that coastal erosion has taken away or which a rising sea level has put permanently or frequently under water," he added.

“Which means that in some places the right answer – in economic, strategic and human terms – will have to be to move communities away from danger rather than to try and protect them from the inevitable impacts of a rising sea level.”

Some of the UK’s coastal towns and villages may have to be relocated due to rising sea levels and erosion (Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)

Sir James, who has been chief executive of the Environment Agency since 2015, is set to say it is “far too early to say which communities are likely to need to move in due course, still less make any decisions”.

He will tell the Flood and Coast Conference in Telford, Shropshire, that “when we do eventually get to decisions on any relocation of communities, they must take full account of the views of the people who live there: no one should be forced from their homes against their will”.

While the aim will be to help communities to remain where they are, “we do need to start the conversation now about the options, not least because we owe it to the threatened communities themselves to help them decide what they want their long-term future to be”, Sir James will say.

In places like Happisburgh on the north Norfolk coast and parts of the coastline of the East Riding of Yorkshire, the Environment Agency is working with local authorities and residents to plan for the long term.

This is the incredible scene of a heart-shaped hole torn into a 10-metre seaside cliff in Happisburgh, Norfolk - just steps from a public footpath (Paul Glenn / SWNS)

Schemes include restoring and creating habitats to include green buffer zones, and replacing public or community-owned buildings in areas at risk with removable, modular, or other innovative buildings.

Sir James will say that “if we stick together I am confident that we can turn the climate crisis into an opportunity to create better places and a better future for all”.

In January of this year, walkers were warned to stay away from the cliff edge after the heavy erosion in Happisburgh.

A heart-shaped hole was torn into a 10-metre seaside cliff just steps away from a public footpath leading to the local village.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.