DOC update - January 2011

Spending Review and funding for schemes

  • The Environment Agency use ‘outcome measure scores’ to prioritise our national funding for schemes. These scores are calculated by considering a range of factors including the number of properties protected and the cost of implementing a scheme.
  • Broomhill Sands and the FoCES package of schemes have relatively low outcome measure scores compared to other schemes in the capital programme. Gaining external financial contributions for these schemes would improve the outcome measure scores and we are continuing to explore these.
  • The indicativefunding allocation proposals are still subject todiscussion and consultation withlocal floodand coastal committees.
  • The Southern Regional Flood and Coastal Committee met on 12 January and will submit further comments by the end of January. The final recommendation for the 2011/12 allocation and the indicative allocation through to 2015/16 will be brought to the Environment Agency Board in February.
  • A finaldecision onthe programmeof schemes to be delivered this year willbe madeby the local committeesin April.

BroomhillSands

  • The business case for the Broomhill Sands scheme has been considered by the Environment Agency's Large Projects Review Group at a meeting in December. The project team are responding to outstanding issues raised by the Group.
  • Approval of the scheme is subject to a funding decision, expected in spring.
  • We are continuing to explore opportunities for external contributions.
  • The scheme will proceed to planning stage once the business case and funding has been agreed.

Other schemes from the Folkestone to Cliff End Strategy

  • We had proposed that the business cases for Lydd Ranges, Hythe Ranges, Rother Tidal Walls East and Romney Sands schemes should be produced as a ‘package’.
  • Although there are significant savings to be made in using this ‘package’ approach, it still presents a very significant investment at any one time.
  • We are now weighing up the potential savings against the urgency of the work needed to decide if it is better to take the schemes forward individually based on their relative priority.
  • In the meantime, there is funding for ongoing maintenance of the frontage which will include the continuedrecycling of the shingle.

GallowaysLookout

  • We have been talking to the MoD and Natural Englandabout ways to reduce the flood risk at Galloways Lookout.A preferred option has beenidentified and agreed by all parties involved.
  • This will provide a hard defence around the edge of the lookout, the life of which is limited until either; the Lydd Ranges scheme protects the lookout, or 2017 by which time the MoD must investigate the sustainability of the current location of the lookout.
  • Works are planned to take place by the end of the financial year. In the interim shingle profiling has taken place around the lookout to provide a soft defence until the works can begin. We will continue to keep DOC updated on progress.

Interim Beach Management

  • Shingle placement has been taking place at Jury’s Gap since autumn 2010 to replace material lost to natural processes since the last round of works.
  • At present the material is being placed around Jury’s Gap lookout to feed material onto the Lydd Ranges frontage. This will gradually improve the beach profile along that coast through natural processes.
  • Beach re-profiling work has taken place within Lydd Ranges during the Christmas non-firing dates. Material has been pushed up from the foreshore to increase the size of the beach profile. Since doing this a ‘storm beach’ has begun to redevelop in front of the shingle ridge which will help dissipate wave energy.

Dungeness Borrow Pit

  • Halcrow have been appointed to look at possible options for re-opening the Dungeness Borrow Pit. They have determined two options whichhave been presented to Natural England.
  • A preferred option has been jointly agreed and more detailed work is being done to finalise the proposal.
  • The Environment Agency, Natural England, British Energy and Halcrow will have a pre-application meeting with Kent County Council (KCC) planning on 21 January to discuss the proposals and planning application.
  • We expect that the final report and resulting planning application will be completed for final review by Natural England, Environment Agency and British Energy in early February.
  • We hope to submit the planning application to KCC in March.

Proposed extension to the Pett Level Special Protection Area (SPA)

  • We have responded to Natural England’s consultation on the proposed extension of the Dungeness to Pett Level SPA.
  • This area contains internationally important habitat. In our response we highlighted how human activity to manage the coastline has contributed to the development of these special habitats.
  • We also noted that if the SPA is extended, there will be cost implications on future flood risk management. These need to be fully understood and considered within the final decision.