Anglia Afloat
How to beat global warming and save the Norfolk Broads
Anglia Afloat presents an imaginative idea which could create new eco-housing, boating and tourism opportunities. And we ask: How would you vote?
A radical scheme could save Broadland from sea-water intrusion, safeguard our Norfolk coastline and the delicate ecosystem of the Broads and also create an amazing new boating and tourist economy. The idea is proposed by a new Anglia Afloat columnist - Mike Evans, highly-respected yachtsman and naturalist
The project, on the scale and impact of the Eden Project in Cornwall, could cost more than £1 billion and would take the opposite approach to managed retreat. Instead it would protect the Norfolk coast and prevent Broadland flooding from Happisburgh down to Gorleston; could create thousands of much-needed new homes, seaside resorts, marinas and offer jobs for several thousand people.
The task can be likened to the Severn Barrage in the west country – and various of the Dutch polders – or meers - that have made Holland a boaters’ paradise and a haven for wildlife while saving its coastline from flooding disaster over past centuries.
It would create an area not dissimilar to The Solent, the south coast’s wonderful sailing and boating region, an area largely enclosed by the mainland and Isle of Wight.
The idea is to build a massive wall on shallow sea-bed and enclose a 17 miles length of sea-water out to a mile or two from the currently endangered coastline. Over five years the water could become fresh, sourced by and serving Broadland via the River Yare.
Currently threatened homes and valuable farm land could be saved; the Broads protected and a new waterborne region created.
Mike Evans is one of our most renowned Broadsmen, an ambassador of sailing globally. Amongst many other things he has been Executive Director of the International Sailing Federation, Chairman of the Royal Yachting Association, a member of the Broads Authority and is President of Norfolk & Suffolk Boating Association .
His idea has been endorsed as “highly practical, inspirational” by an international civil engineer, Michael Muir-Smith, who lives in France with business interests in Norfolk. He has delivered numerous civil engineering projects and is currently working on major schemes in the Seychelles, Middle East and Britain.
Anglia Afloat applauds the vision and has forwarded the outline to various sources that might be expected to take it seriously, adventurous though it is.
Broads Authority Chief Executive John Packman said: The impact of climate change is difficult to predict and we shall need innovative thinking to help the Broads, its population and local economy adapt. The latest projections for the UK suggest that by the 2080s the Broads will be 3-4 degrees warmer, have 20% more rainfall in winter and 20% less in the summer.
“Perhaps more significantly, sea-level will rise by over a foot which will increase flooding - a feature of the Broads for centuries. Salt is already coming under the dunes, affecting the Upper Thurne and encroaching further up our rivers.
“It’s important that the discussion process is under way and options are being considered. The Broads Authority has already had a presentation on floating buildings which may be a part of the future.”
Could this be a solution? Tell us what you think
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