To receive a verbal update.

Deborah Higton, Lincolnshire Coast Flood Risk Manager at the Environment Agency (EA) presented Members with an update and presentation on the state of coastal defences.

A copy of the presentation is attached at Appendix A to the Minutes

Following which, Members were invited to put their comments and questions forward.

In response to a query relating to Zone B where the hard defences were located, Deborah Higton advised Members they were based from Mablethorpe to Skegness.  Members were further advised that some areas in between Mablethorpe and Skegness were missing the concrete structures,   however these areas had a more natural system with some form of hard engineering underneath.

Following a query with regards to the 20,000 properties protected by the hard defences and the grant in aid funding, Deborah Higton confirmed that only the properties that existed prior to 2012 and at the cut-off date were counted.  New properties did not generate a grant in aid funding as they would not be at risk of flooding.

A query was raised on whether the coastal defence work may stop due to it being one of the biggest carbon emitters and also whether carbon reduction was classed as being more important than coastal defence work. Deborah Higton responded that it was not a reason for them not to continue with coastal defence work and they would look at ways to mitigate this.

A Member queried whether there was a planting regime in place along the coast to enable the natural defences and whether the EA was proactive in such schemes.

Deborah Higton informed Members that the EA was carrying out planting and highlighted that one of the best natural defences was the intertidal area as when built up with vegetation, would catch the sand and grow the beaches which was a great form of flood defence.  Members were also informed that the EA was looking at changing the design profile of the beach.

A Member queried whether there was any work being carried out on The Wash barrier.  Deborah Higton advised Members that the EA did not have much information on The Wash barrier and that it would be down to the developer to demonstrate that they were mitigating any impacts when putting any infrastructure into the tidal area.

Details relating to development in the Humber Estuary and what the long-term implications were was also discussed, with Members being informed that the EA was working closely with the Humber Strategy to demonstrate the impact of the mitigation.

Further to a comment made relating to the marram grass on Cleethorpes beach close to the leisure centre, Members were informed that this was a wide, shallow intertidal area which allowed the building-up of marram grass and salt marsh, providing a good way of manging flood risk.

A request was made for Deborah Higton to present to the Lindsey Marsh Drainage Board, to which she responded she would be happy to do.

At the indulgence of the Chairman, Councillor Craig Leyland queried why the agricultural land was not valued in the same way as developed land when it came to the grant in aid funding as this caused a structural disadvantage in Lincolnshire.

Deborah Higton advised that there was a difference in the rate of funding that the EA received and that it measured the outcomes.  One of the measures was that properties were better protected instead of homes being protected which had attracted a greater rate of funding compared to the lower rate for agricultural land. It was something being seen across all rural areas in the country.  The level of flood risk was also being looked at as many properties were at a significant risk which changed the amount of grant in aid funding along with the higher the level of deprivation.

Following a query with regards to whether tourism received any grant in aid, Deborah Higton advised that tourism was counted in to the economics but did not attract the same amount of funding as properties.  Members were further advised that static caravans were not included in the property count as they could be relocated.

In relation to the 2012 cut-off for grant in aid, a Member queried whether the cut-off date applied to all categories.  Deborah Higton responded that she understood it was just for properties rather than infrastructure but would check and report back.

A Member further commented that there was a big gap in the funding that was received contrary to funding what was needed in order to keep the North Sea where it was.

Further to a query on inland flood cells and whether the Lincolnshire coast operated as a single flood cell, Deborah Higton advised Members that the Lincolnshire coast operated as a single flood cell and there were slight changes to the topography due to the area being so flat.

A Member queried whether wind turbines had created sandbanks of their own.  Deborah Higton responded that the EA had not noticed any changes on the ground, but they were looking at more bathymetric data and trying to better understand the impact of changes in weather and what that might mean for the amount of erosion, sand losses and sand movement.

Following a question relating to S106s and whether sand could be brought in to where wind turbines were located, the Assistant Director – Planning & Strategic Infrastructure advised that they would have to look at the details in each case as they came in.

A Member further queried whether structures built out of natural rock on the seafront would reduce corrosion and be more cost effective.  Deborah Higton advised that there was already natural rock on the seafront, buried under the sand, and that sand was the most cost-effective method.  Members were informed that the EA would always look at alternative materials.

At the indulgence of the Chairman, Councillor Robert Watson commented that   marram grass planting worked well and queried whether it would be considered to plant it continuously along the coast to help control the sand blowing on to the promenade, especially in Sutton on Sea.  A query was also raised with regards to planting other species of plants to enhance the planting regime.

Deborah Higton replied that they would consider those suggestions during the upcoming planting scheme. 

At the indulgence of the Chairman, Councillor Robert Watson further queried whether controlled structures were still a possibility to reduce sand loss.  Deborah Higton explained that there was an issue with the defences at the rear of beach.  The plan was to build on top of those concrete defences, however if that was not possible, the controlled structures would only be of benefit up until 2040.   After that time, it would then be necessary to come up with an alternative plan to replace the hard defences. 

Councillor Robert Watson further queried whether there were plans in place for any emergency renourishment in areas where storms had wiped out the sand.

Deborah Higton advised that there was a new beach strategy, and the EA were looking at the contingency plans for it.  Sand recycling had also been considered. Furthermore, there was a working group looking at the trigger points and working with the local resilience forum around ‘warning and informing’ and  encouraging people to sign up for flood warnings.

A Member commented that there was a need for the younger generation to be educated on coastal flooding.

Deborah Higton agreed with the comment and informed Members that her EA colleagues were working with the public, helping them with flood plans and attending public events.  They had also attempted to go in to schools, however there was not a great take-up.  Reference was made to the successful Hello Lamp Post scheme.  Members were advised that posters had been put on lamp posts and included a QR code for people to scan to gain and share knowledge about the coast.

Further to a query on how closely the EA worked with ELDC on the production of the Local Plan, Deborah Higton informed Members that the EA had worked very closely with ELDC in the past and having already started conversations around the best way to engage, was intending to continue with that. The Assistant Director – Planning and Strategic Infrastructure agreed and advised Members that he would come back to the Committee to explain the next steps.

A Member queried how funds would be raised if they could not be raised by the partners. 

Deborah Higton advised Members that £800m would be raised in grant in aid across 100 years. However, this would not be sufficient.  Therefore,  a partnership including District Council, County Council and the drainage boards would need to be developed in order to look at other opportunities. 

Following a query with regards to how much farmland across East Lindsey was flooded at the beginning of 2024, Deborah Higton replied that this information had been mapped and would find out the figures. 

N.B. Councillor Daniel McNally left the Meeting at 7:04pm.

At the indulgence of the Chairman, Councillor Craig Leyland raised a concern with regards to the funding and education for raising awareness of how serious the coastal flooding was for East Lindsey and the need to make this argument with the Government.

A discussion ensued relating to whether caravans on the coast could be replaced by housing, in order to secure more funding.  A Member stated that the housing would be in a flood risk area and would not obtain planning permission, unless submitted with mitigation which would be very expensive and was a scenario that developers were keen to avoid.

N.B. Councillor Craig Leyland left the Meeting at 7:09pm and returned at 7:10pm.

Following a query on when the Strategic Flood Risk Assessment Phase 1 Report would be available to ELDC, the Assistant Director – Planning and Strategic Infrastructure advised that it was still expected,  however could not provide a firm date.

In summing up, the Chairman reiterated the main issues and thanked Deborah Higton for her presentation.