Happisburgh, Lyme Regis, Holderness and Mappleton, Blackpool, New Forest see your

exercise books

Happisburgh Lyme Regis Holderness and Mappleton Blackpool – A tourist resort Coastal flooding in south-east

England/Netherlands and Bangladesh

This case study looks at the social, economic, political and environmental problems of cliff collapse and issues surrounding managed retreat

The link for the video we watched in class can be found here:

http://gatm.org.uk/geographyatthemovies/coasts.html

Also there are lots of other videos on coasts, feel free to watch them as they will help with revision

It is a small village with a pub and tea shop It is surrounded by farmland No main road runs through it so it is not

really worth protecting Old coastal defences

◦ Revetments – now damaged with reduced effectiveness

◦ Rock armour – old rock armour – now reduced effectiveness

Political◦ If the Government or council does nothing they

could lose popularity with voters◦ If the Government or council pays for a coastal

defence scheme they may have to raise taxes which could be unpopular and therefore lose votes

Social◦ Loss of community◦ Re-housing the people made homeless◦ Loss of jobs◦ Having to move away from the area resulting in

losing touch with friends

Economic◦ Insurance premiums rise due to an increased risk

of your house falling into the sea◦ Houses near the cliff are worthless due to the fear

they may fall into the sea◦ The cost to repair the revetment is £4.6 million –

this is too expensive compared to the land it will protect

◦ Loss of farmland – farmers lose income – governments get less tax resulting in a loss of money

◦ Loss of businesses – Pub and tea shop

Environmental◦ Building rubble falling into the sea◦ Loss of habitat – land based ecosystems

Preventing the loss of houses and businesses

Built on some of the most unstable land in Britain

Very exposed to the sea on one of our most actively eroding stretches of coastline

Important tourist location

Started by West Dorset District Council in the early 1990’s

Most of the money comes from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)

Phase 1 – new sea wall and promenade east of the mouth of the River Lim – finished in 1995

Phase 2 – protect the foreshore and stabilise the land immediately behind it. Work started in 2005 and will cost £17 million

Further work is planned in future years The aim of the scheme is:

◦ to provide long-term protection for homes and businesses in the town

◦ Protect the coast and the special natural environment that makes Lyme Regis so attractive to tourists

Mappleton

Has the highest rate of coastal erosion in Europe

7 to 10m of land is lost each year The coastline is 4km further west than in

Roman times 29 villages have been lost in the last 1000

years Loss of farmland Loss of homes Loss of caravan sites and holiday homes

The cliffs are made of soft rock such as boulder clay and sand

This is often not consolidated (cemented together)

The waves wash away the clay and sands form between the boulders to leave them unsupported

When it rains, water enters cracks and spaces in the rock

After heavy rain this can make it unstable and cause slumping

Coastal defences at Mappleton