3.11 Managing coasts in a holistic way

Question 1

How much of the Holderness coastline is protected?

Answer 1

only 9.2km are protected by hard engineering structures out of 85km

Question 2

What is a cost benefit analysis ?

Answer 2

It is carried out before a coastal management project is given the go ahead. Costs are forecasted and then compared with the expected benefits
The costs and benefits can be either tangible or intangible

Question 3

What are tangible costs and benefits?

Answer 3

where costs and benefits can be given a monetary value

Question 4

What are intangible costs and benefits?

Answer 4

where costs may be difficult to access but are important (e.g. the visual imapact)

Question 5

What defences have been put in place at Hornsea?

Answer 5

Concrete sea walls, groynes and a rock armor

Question 6

What are the impacts of the defences at Hornsea?

Answer 6

The groynes trap the sediment and maintain the beach at Hornsea , but Mappleton downdrift has been starved of sediment as a result. There, rapid wave attacks have eroded the cliffs, so that by the 1990s, nearly 4m of the cliff were being eroded each year

Question 7

What are the defences at Mappleton?

Answer 7

Two rock groynes (costing £2 million) were built in 1991, with the aim of preventing the removal of the beach by longshore drift. Rock armor was also used

Question 8

What were the impacts of the defences at Mappleton?

Answer 8

At Cowden, 3km south of Mappleton, the resultant sediment starvation caused increased erosion of cliffs

Question 9

What defences have been put in place at Withernsea?

Answer 9

A straight sea wall was built in 1875. However, over time, wave energy scoured the base of the wall- causing it to collapse. So, in the 1990s, the straight wall was replaced by a curved wall- at a cost of £6.3 million

Question 10

What have been the impacts of the defences at Withernsea?

Answer 10

The waves are now noisier when they break against the wall and the promenade is smaller
The views from the sea-front hotels have also been restricted. Some tourists find the rip-rap at the base of the sea wall unattractive

Question 11

What is integrated coastal zone management?

Answer 11

This means that complete sections of the coast are now being managed as a whole- rather than by individual towns or cities. This is because we now know that human actions in one place will affect places further along the coast in sediment cells

Question 12

When was the ICZM at the Holderness introduced?

Answer 12

2002

Question 13

What was done with the Holderness ICZM after it was established?

Answer 13

it was used to help develop the Flamborough Head to Gibraltar Point Shoreline Management Plan (SMP).

Question 14

What is the SMP at the Holderness?

Answer 14

The Flamborough Head to Gibraltar Point SMP sets out the policy for managing the coastline and responding to ccoastal erosion over the next 100 years. It assesses potential erosion and flood risks, and then identifies sustainable coastal defence and management options, which takes into account the needs of human, natural and historic environments.

Question 15

What are the four options for coastal action?

Answer 15

Hold the line- maintaining the current position of the coastline (often using hard engineering methods)
Advance the line- this involves extending the coastline out to sea (by encouraging the build up of a wider beach, using beach nourishment and groyne construction)
Managed retreat/strategic realignment- allowing the coast to retreat but in a managed way. It involves the deliberate breaching of flood banks built to protect low quality farmland from flooding (creating a salt marsh environment)
No active intervention- allow the sea to erode the cliffs and flood low lying land

Question 16

Why is the policy decision at Hornsea to hold the line?

Answer 16

-it is a regional economic centre with a population of 8,500
-important historic sites and Southorpe medieval village
-inland is Hornsea Mere: a very important lake habitat for birds that is a site of special scientific interest

Question 17

What was the cost benefit analysis like at Mappleton?

Answer 17

it was protected at a cost of £2 million (in a scheme supported by EU funding), despite the village only being valued at £650,000. If the policy decision was being made today, it may well have not of been defended. In the 2010 SMP, the economic case for defending Mappleton was described as marginal.
The reason it was built was due to pressure from communities as houses on cliff road were falling into the sea

Question 18

How are areas with ‘no active intervention’ along the Holderness likely to be affected along the coastline?

Answer 18

-up to 400m of land could be lost by 2105
-in the North Cliff area of Hornsea, some properties could be at risk by 2055
-by 2105, the main coastal road is likely to have been destroyed by erosion , south of Rolston and south of Mappleton
-by 2055, around 200 hectares of farmland and 32 properties are likely to have been lost to erosion

Question 19

What are the features of a ICZM?

Answer 19

-entire coastline is managed
-recognizes the importance of the coast to people’s livelihoods and the need for sustainable management
-plans for the long term
-adopts adaptive management (changing policies if threats change)
-works with natural processes rather than against them
-uses participatory planning
Involves multiple stakeholders-may be across political boundaries

Question 20

What are the factors that determine which policy is put in place at a coast?

Answer 20

-economic value
-technical feasibility of engineering solutions
-the cultural and ecological value
-pressure from the communities

Question 21

What is an example of a section of the Holderness coast being protected due to economic value?

Answer 21

the nationally important natural gas terminal at Easington will be protected, as will Hornsea

Question 22

What is an environmental impact assessment?

Answer 22

it aims to identify:
-short term impacts of coastal environment construction
-long term impacts of building new sea defences

Question 23

What are some examples of assessments which contribute to the EIA?

Answer 23

-impact on water and sediment flow, which can affect marine ecosystems
-impacts on water quality
-possible changes to flora and fauna
-air quality and noise pollution

Question 24

What is the management strategy considered as at Spurn Head?

Answer 24

Abandonment

Question 25

What are the advantages of abandonment at Spurn Head?

Answer 25

the growing annual costs of protection were saved, some evidence suggests the broken neck will fix itself and not all environmental groups were against it becoming an island

Question 26

What are the disadvantages of abandonment at Spurn Head?

Answer 26

the community of lifeboat men and their families had to move elsewhere.

Question 27

How successful is the defence at Mappleton?

Answer 27

In 2002, all is not well- the regraded cliffs were showing early signs of slumping. Beyond the second groyne, the large rocks are being undermined and the cliff face has begun to erode. More worryingly, is the very rapid erosion of beaches, cliffs and farms at Great Cowden 3km to the south, which may be linked to Mappleton's growing beach

Question 28

What has been done to maintain the coast at Essex?

Answer 28

The UK has adopted a ‘Finding Space for Water’ philosophy. The Essex Wildlife Trust and other farmers have discussed giving land up to the sea. EWT purchased the Abbot’s Hall estate in Essex, on the Blackwater estuary, and converted more than 84 hectares of farmland into salt marsh and grassland by breaching old embankments in four places in 2002. A cost benefit analysis concluded that, since the soil quality and land value were low, it was not worth maintaining the embankments or building them higher.

Question 29

How successful is the management at Essex?

Answer 29

This is the largest coastal realignment project in Europe, costing £645,000. It provides sustainable sea defences for the future, because the 49 hectares of additional mudflats and salt marshes absorb incoming higher seas and storm surges without any local damage, and also reduces the volume of water travelling up the Essex estuaries and creeks, which could flood settlements.

Question 30

Which two stakeholders were concerned about the management at Essex

Answer 30

Two stakeholder groups were concerned that the plans would change the local water environments. The West Mersea fishermen who carry out oyster fishing in the estuary were concerned that sediments could choke and kill oysters and water level changes could remove oyster habitats.  The RSPB was concerned about increase erosion and flooding of their site opposite the farm, which would change bird habitats. 

Question 31

What coastal defence has been put in place in Chittagong, Bangladesh

Answer 31

A Coastal Climate Resilient Infrastructure Project (2012) supported by the Asian Development Bank aims to ‘climate proof’ the area. The project involves:  Improving road connections, while raising embankments to 60cm above normal flood levels and making them resistant to coastal erosion  Creating new market areas with sheds raised on platforms above the expected 2050 level  Constructing, improving or extending 25 tropical cyclone shelters, taking into account of sea level rise and higher wind speeds Training in climate resilience and adaptation 

Question 32

How successful has the coastal project been in Chittagong Bangladesh

Answer 32

 Positives were seen as helping to alleviate poverty (by 10%) by generating income opportunities, adapting to climate change and reducing disaster risk, for example road flooding five days a year instead of 20, and environmental enhancement such as planting trees. Negatives were seen as disturbance of people and natural habitats, especially during construction phases, permeant removal of natural vegetation, and relocation of some households (200 people) by road alignment. In May 2015, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a UN agency, which loaned the project US$60 million, rated the progress of the project as satisfactory overall, but with slow progress on road embankments