The coastal town of Happisburgh, located in England, is facing severe erosion, putting dozens of homes at risk of collapse. Residents are expressing frustration over the limited support offered by authorities as they grapple with the imminent loss of their properties.\The town's history and unique character are under threat as the coastline rapidly disappears. While some residents receive funding for demolition and relocation, others fear being left without assistance. Coastal defenses that once protected the town were dismantled due to cost concerns, exacerbating the problem.
The historic coastal town of Happisburgh is clinging to an eroding cliff edge - and locals at risk of losing everything question why they are offered so little support
The 79-year-old’s house sits about 15m from the edge of a vanishing cliff at what is now the end of Happisburgh’sWhen she has just five metres separating her from the coastline, Ms Nierop-Reading will be forced to demolish her home and move into a small static caravan at the top of“The council are doing what they can to help with the costs of my demolition, which is rare,” she said.
“We could be doing something and we’re not, and what is happening to me is going to happen to everybody down the road.‘Our houses are going into the sea’Speaking from the cottage she shares with her husband, Patrick, and their dog, Alf, she said: “When is angry and the tide is high, you worry about how much cliff will go.”
The Hill House Inn, a listed building, is one of the next properties facing demolition or an untimely collapse down the crumbling cliffs “Instead, it has become a coastline where the policy is ‘no active intervention’,” he said, questioning why lawmakers appear “happy to throw away” Happisburgh’s “irreplaceable” heritage.
It meant Walcott was granted extra protection from erosion and flooding due to its proximity to Bacton, while Happisburgh – itself just five miles from the terminal – was not. “Insurance prices have already gone down, which proves they’ve got confidence in ,” said caravan park owner Tricia McCarthy.Ms Porter, who says Walcott is now “confident but not complacent”, supports calls for more attention to be paid to the issue by Westminster.“Local governments are struggling and overspent with their budgets, but if we can’t save the coastline we should at least compensate people properly for the home that they’ve lost.
Outside the Kingfisher, Harry Blathwayt, a district councillor in charge of all things coastal, explained the economics behind the current Government policy.Mundesley and Cromer scheme The fact there is no compensatory or insurance schemes for coastal erosion has “got to change,” he said, adding: “I’m not happy; is not something I like, but it’s not a local government policy – it is the national government.”Eroding coasts are nothing new and to some degree are necessary to replenish beaches elsewhere along a coastline.
Coastal Erosion Happisburgh UK Climate Change Housing Crisis
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