Pevensey Farmers
Our speakers Nick Gray, Laura Stronge and Andy Walker, gave a comprehensive presentation on their plans for the Pevensey Bay to Eastbourne Coastal Management scheme.
After a quick overview of what the EA do they provided an overview of their plans to spend 100s of millions on interventions to protect the 18,000 homes and businesses that are at risk from sea level rises (predicted to be approx 1.5 metres in the next 100 years).
They plan to start work with a short term interim project from 2025 to 2027 spending 5-10 million pounds before phase 1 kicks in from 2027 to 2037, with a spend of 50 to 60 million pounds. This will include re-profiling of the beach to make a more natural and accessible and adding some new beach groynes (at a cost of around £250,000 each).
Currently they spend around 2 million each winter on using heavy plant machinery to move shingle. Once phase 1 is complete, they suggest less money will be spent on heavy machinery resulting in a lower carbon footprint.
Other options discussed for their longer term plan (from 2037 onwards) included some of the above options and depending on sea level rises, potentially some “managed retreat” which would likely have a huge impact on the Pevensey Levels.
After the presentation a number of questions from farmers were posed to the speakers about the impact of flooding due to more extreme winters and increased rainfall.
One farmer from our group asked why the EA decided to block up one of two existing outfalls? Nick Gray has passed on this query to their head of assets and as yet I am still awaiting a response.
Other suggested solutions from farmers in the room included more pumping infrastruture, dredging the main river and adopting a more collaborative approach. The EA said they are in listening mode and would be happy to work more closely with farmers and the internal drainage board in the future.
For those that would like to watch the presentation please click here.
