RESEARCH
Professor Pethick of Newcastle University informed
the group that a study into sediment supply from the cliffs to
the West was needed. This decision was reversed without apparent
reference to the group. The Porlock Manor Estate suggested that
if man-made structures, such as the harbour groynes, were interfering
with the natural working of the coastal process it would consider
radical solutions.
From the outset Porlock was regarded as a full
scale test-bed for the concept of managed retreat. No houses would
be lostonly farmland, but the importance of bird nesting
and breeding habitats which would be lost was given a low priority.
Three points must not be missed however:
(1) The tidal range of the Bristol Channel
is greater than the east coast of England creating conditions
which are extremely variable. High Bristol Channel tides every
fortnight prevent birds' attempts to nest. "Normal"
saltmarsh with lots of nesting birds cannot be achieved as on
the east coast. Redshank need a minimum of 22-23 days to hatch
eggs. The nest sites now flood every 15 days.
(2) Lessons learnt at Porlock may not be
helpful elsewhere and vice versa. How "retreat" is managed
will be different from place to place. At Porlock "retreat",
if that is what is happening on Porlock Beach, may well be being
caused by un-managed "advance" at Porlock Weir. "Naturally
sustaining" is the goal, but how "natural" are
systems allowed to be, before other human policy factors come
into play.
(3) The Porlock Manor Estate advocates "managed
retreat" working with nature. The Estate sees a fundamental
distinction between allowing a "man-managed, man-made, shingle
ridge" to deteriorate (the Environmental Agency's position)
and identifying what cost effective or, in the Wessex Water option,
cost free choices exist for working with nature to restore a storm
beach and associated coastal grazing marsh, bird nesting areas,
marshy and brackish lagoons and reed beds.
9 April 1998