Members of the CRG visited Rob Goodliffe at the NNDC to discuss the Coastwise initiative.
The outcome of the meeting produced the following points:
The NNDC welcomed the idea that the CRG would be the conduit between itself and Happisburgh Parish Council.
The NNDC Coastwise would consult and collaborate with the CRG on various projects for the whole area of Happisburgh which fall into the remit of the project design. These include a plan for a drainage survey and the possible new location for the beach access ramp.
The NNDC were open to discussion of experimental soft defence planting outside of the SSSI area.
Additionally the CRG have identified that Natural England's co-ordinates for the Happisburgh Cliff's SSSI are no longer accurate due to the receding coastline. The implications of this fact have been queried with both Natural England and the NNDC by the CRG. To date we have one reply from NE to the effect that this will need investigation but this is not unusual for a coastal site. The SSSI was declared to protect the process of erosion itself to facilitate scientific study.
The CRG's position is that the speed of erosion envisaged by Natural England is now far greater than its ability to survey the cliffs for the original purpose of the SSSI. Hence the need to slow the erosion by implementing some natural mitigation.
The CRG are continuing to reach out to other coastal sites where natural soft defences are being used to slow down erosion. In time we hope to present our findings to the Parish Council and village.
But our primary focus at the moment is on the drainage problems in the village which both create immediate hardship and anxiety but also contribute to the process of erosion. We are encouraging the Coastwise project to undertake and fund this survey as we believe it falls squarely into the project's remit.