RAPID dune erosion continues —Council doesn’t give a toss

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Alex Gilks replies to article St Clair dunes ‘in no danger’ (ODT 3.9.15)

Published at ODT Online
Wed, 9 Sep 2015

Your say: Urgent action is needed
By Alex Gilks
Wayne Stephenson’s comments here, assuming they were reported accurately, seem quite a way off the mark. I’m no expert, but grew up near the dunes, and walk on the beach often.
I visited this morning, and the big sea earlier this week has carved off more of the top of the dune. The two big pines are about 5m and 10m from the edge of the erosion. Bill Brown is right: urgent action is needed. Big-scale protection at the bottom.
Putting aside the throwaway comment about the asteroid, here are the troubling things about this article:

• ‘no risk to property this year’ – this super short-term thinking should be criticized

• ‘if the dune’s foot was staying in place’ – the dune’s foot is absolutely not staying in place! The immediate reason for the dramatic erosion is that the toe of the dune has been completely hammered since the sand sausages were ruined. How can he not see that? Is he not actually visiting the site?

• the idea that the enemy is ‘winter’s storms’, and the implication that it will be ok again until next winter. Where does this come from? The south coast can get powerful southerlies at any time of year. Is there some data that you can use to show the frequency and time of year of southerly/easterly storms and high tides?

• sand sausages and sand replenishment as interim solutions, before ‘more permanent features in coming years’. Shouldn’t this receive more criticism? The previous sands sausages and sand replenishment worked for only what, a handful of years? Wouldn’t you just urgently undertake some more long-term solution?

For this to get real I think decision-makers need to walk along the ridge track from the Kettle Park area, see the shifting edge and the remaining area at the apex of the dune.
I’d take a botanist along too, to get a good gauge on the age of the trees that have been uprooted. The bigger ones must be 50-80 years old, yet you hear some people saying things like ‘this happened in the 70s/90s/a few years back’.
No. We need to get past this complacent idea that this is a seasonal thing, that it’ll replenish itself soon and will start working normally again in the near future.
ODT Link

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Received from Hype O’Thermia
Tue, 8 Sep 2015 at 10:36 a.m.

The sea does not adapt to humans

Increased storms and extreme weather – get off yer bike! Just for fun I googled “British houses that fell into the sea”, not a helluva rigorous search……..

One dark night in 1664, while local people were attending a wake, the whole village of Runswick slipped into the sea…
Thankfully, all the villagers escaped but by morning there was only one house left standing… the house of the dead man!
http://www.visitengland.com/experience/discover-village-fell-sea

As late as 1817 when George Young, the Whitby historian, wrote of the incident, articles including a silver spoon and coins which had been carried from the rubble by the tide were still being washed back.
http://www.chrisscottwilson.co.uk/runswick-bay/4551457861

It wasn’t always so peaceful – one night in 1664 the entire village slid into the sea! Returning from a wake, one of the villagers noticed the steps of his house slipping away beneath his feet. He gave the alarm and most of the village fled to safety. By morning only one house remained standing- the house of the deceased man. The village was rebuilt further around the shore but land slippage continued to be a problem. In 1970 a new sea wall was finally built, thankfully securing the village’s future.
http://www.simonseeks.com/travel-guides/hands-all-those-whove-heard-runswick-bay__167571

In medieval times, when Dunwich was first accorded representation in Parliament, it was a flourishing port and market town about thirty miles from Ipswich. However, by 1670 the sea had encroached upon the town, destroying the port and swallowing up all but a few houses so that nothing was left but a tiny village. The borough had once consisted of eight parishes, but all that was left was part of the parish of All Saints, Dunwich – which by 1831 had a population of 232, and only 44 houses (“and half a church”, as Oldfield recorded in 1816).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunwich_(UK_Parliament_constituency)

Robin Hood’s Bay, North Yorkshire
The raging storms have taken their toll, claiming many buildings as the limestone cliffs erode. In 1780, 22 cottages fell into the sea. Today a rock seawall helps protect the picturesque village.
http://www.britainexpress.com/villages/robinhood.htm

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● 22.7.15 DCC Long Term Plan 2015/16 – 2024/25
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30.7.12 ORC on hazard risks and land use controls
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█ For more, enter the term *coastal* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Images: dunedinisforlovers.blogspot.co.nz – Majestic Mansions (April 2010); world50th.files.wordpress.com – dunes (February 2015)