KENT NEWS: Experts warn that parts of Kent’s coastal towns could be lost forever unless radical measures are taken to improve sea defences.
The authors of a report entitled Facing up to Rising Sea Levels say places like Margate and Herne Bay could look drastically different in 90 years’ time, unless planning authorities and the Government sit up and take notice.
According to the study – a joint effort by the Institution of Civil Engineers (Ice) and the Royal Institute of British Architects (Riba) – rising sea levels, more storms and sinking landmasses could leave many UK coastal areas vulnerable to extreme flooding.
The report focuses on the at-risk cities of Hull and Portsmouth, but Ice’s Ben Hamer told KOS Media the warnings also apply to Kent’s coastal towns.
He said: “There are many places that share the same dangers as Hull and Portsmouth, many of which are on the south and east coast, including Kent.
“It’s difficult to talk about the specifics of every town but it’s important to start thinking now about what a sustainable city or town needs to look like in the future.
“We’re expecting a sea level rise of up to one metre over the next century, as well as an extra 70 to 100 million people living in the UK.
“Many of those people will be living in coastal regions, so we need to start preparing for what’s to come.”
Last year the Environment Agency revealed that one in six homes in England are at risk of flooding from rivers, the sea or overflowing drains, and that investment in the building and maintaining of flood defences will need to almost double to £1 billion a year by 2035.
It also ranked the South East as being the most at risk region with 111,356 homes in danger, and Shepway the sixth most at risk local area, with 9,065 homes in danger.
The report by Ice and the Riba suggests three options for tackling rising sea level, one of which is to ‘retreat’ by moving critical infrastructure and housing to safer ground.
The others are to ‘defend’ by building town or city-wide sea defences, and to ‘attack’ by extending the existing coastline and building out on to the water.
Mr Hamer said: “We’re not promoting any one of these options, but trying instead to identify the positive outcomes of each.
“It’s absolutely serious now. While the solutions we have come up with are for a vision 100 years into the future, the longer we leave it to attract revenue for sea defences and to plan to move communities to more sustainable locations, the fewer options we will have.”
POSTED: 31/01/2010 12:00:00
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