Managed Retreat- Medmerry CS COASTS

Question 1

What strategy was used to protect the coast?

Answer 1

Managed retreat

Question 2

What was in danger?

Answer 2

300 homes, water treatment and main roads

Question 3

What was the solution?

Answer 3

Construct inland flood bank so seawater can be diverted to the side
(Flooding is a major problem with regular breaches, several hundred thousand pounds are spent every year)

Question 4

How did the solution benefit Medmerry?

Answer 4

The scheme has created an intertidal habitat, replacing vital areas and allowing new defences to be built and protecting thousands more properties along the coastline. They constructed a new 7Km embankment using clay from within the area.

Question 5

What are the social, economic and environmental benefits?

Answer 5

Social:
-best protection form coastal flooding
-the area now has 10km of footpaths
1 in 100ths chance of flooding

Economic:
-caravan parks protected

Environmental:
-local economy received a boost in green tourism
-vegetation on salt marsh support farming

Question 6

What are the social, economic and environmental costs?

Answer 6

Social:
-couldve explored other options such as offshore reef or continued beach realignment
-some regretted spending a significant amount of money in a sparsely populated area

Economic:
-expensive at 28million compared to 0.2million a year to maintain shingle wall
-good agricultural land abandoned leading to loss of thee farms

Environmental
-habitats of existing species were disturbed