COAST EROSION AND ACCRETION (Hansard, 27 March 1973)

§ THE EARL OF LAUDERDALE
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

§ LORD MOWBRAY AND STOURTON
My Lords, under the Coast Protection 973 Act 1949, the observation of coastal erosion in any area is primarily the responsibility of the maritime district authority, who are empowered to undertake such studies as they consider necessary to the discharge of their statutory duties. The costs of studies, integral to schemes of protection, rate for Exchequer grant when approved by my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for the Environment. In addition, provision has been made in the research budget of the Department of the Environment's Engineering Directorate for certain studies likely to prove of general benefit; for example, the evaluation and monitoring of bastion protection schemes and the artificial recharging of beaches.

§ THE EARL OF LAUDERDALE
My Lords, in thanking my noble friend for that reply, would he accept, first of all, that it does not add very much to our information? Also, would he not agree that this is a question of the United Kingdom interest at large and is far too important to be left simply to local authorities?

§ LORD MOWBRAY AND STOURTON
My Lords, we keep a watching brief over all local authorities, and my right honourable friend has powers to interfere if he thinks the local authorities are not discharging their functions properly.

§ THE EARL OF LAUDERDALE
My Lords, would my noble friend not agree that when there is erosion on the coast of Aberdeenshire, when there is a 90 degree change to the entrance to the Tay estuary and when there is erosion of the Yorkshire coast and also of the Sussex beaches, and when there is accretion at Tents Muir Point in Fife and on the coast of Lancashire, this is something which requires general oversight? At present it is being treated piecemeal.

§ LORD MOWBRAY AND STOURTON
My Lords, it is, as I said, the local maritime authorities who are the local authorities. If my noble friend has any particular points to mention I should like to hear from him, and so would my right honourable friend. I would repeat that under Section 29 of the Act, acting upon complaint about an authority who, in the light of local inquiry, have failed to take sufficient measures for the protection of land in their area, the Secretary of State 974 may then direct a local authority to do more. We are not aware that there is such an absence of duty on their part.

§ LORD DERWENT
My Lords, as my noble friend Lord Lauderdale has mentioned the Yorkshire coast, could he or my noble friend say which local authorities are not carrying out their duties?

§ LORD MOWBRAY AND STOURTON
My Lords, I cannot do so, because I am not aware of any local authorities who are not discharging their functions in this respect.

§ THE EARL OF LAUDERDALE
My Lords, would the noble Lord not agree that the dredging of spoil from the North Sea and the English Channel, coupled with tidal drift, is bringing great damage to some of our beaches, and that there are a whole series of cases, including Spurn Bight on the Humber, where damage is arising that is in fact not being dealt with? Does this not require such a watching brief by, as we might say, the Royal Commission on Pollution, or should there not be a five-year research study, or a study on a United Kingdom scale, taking accretion and erosion together?

§ LORD MOWBRAY AND STOURTON
My Lords, my noble friend first of all referred to dredging at sea. I can assure the House that dredging at sea cannot be done without obtaining a licence from the Hydraulics Research Station. If my noble friend will bring to our notice any forms of erosion, or particular cases where he thinks local authorities are in default of their duties, we should be grateful to him.

§ LORD SHACKLETON
My Lords, may I ask the noble Lord whether he would consider asking the Department of the Environment to consult the Natural Environment Research Council and other academic advisers as to the extent to which particular geography departments—and there are a number of very notable geographers who are concerned in this question—are carrying out synoptic studies? Is he aware that his noble friend is asking for a total look? Further, would the noble Lord see whether in fact the material could perhaps be brought together fairly easily?

§ LORD MOWBRAY AND STOURTON
Obviously, my Lords, we will look at this again but, as I said in my original 975 Answer, there are continual studies being done on the overall picture. I must repeat that we are not aware of any serious erosion causing important trouble to the country as a whole.

§ THE EARL OF LAUDERDALE
My Lords, is my noble friend aware that at least one river authority is practically in despair about getting through to the Department of the Environment on this subject, and others are also worried? Is he further aware that this is a matter of great concern generally? I shall certainly write and give him particular examples.

VISCOUNT ST. DAVIDS
My Lords, is the noble Lord aware that when it comes to erosion, one man's erosion is very often the accretion of his next-door neighbour? The reason why this has to be done on more than a local scale is because if the one man stops erosion the beach material may simply not get down to his next-door neighbour, that is, the neighbouring authority, and therefore they suffer erosion in their turn. There has to be a balancing up of a whole coast if you are really going to stop erosion in a proper manner and without spending too much money on it.

§ LORD MOWBRAY AND STOURTON
My Lords, I think that what the noble Lord has said is reasonable. I do not see anything to disagree with in that.

§ THE EARL OF LAUDERDALE
My Lords, would the noble Lord not agree that some system of monitoring would be worth while, such as the Sussex River Authority are doing on their coast? Could this not be done around Britain?

§ LORD MOWBRAY AND STOURTON
My Lords, we are in touch the whole time with the local port authorities and river authorities and harbour authorities, as are the local maritime authorities. I really think this matter is getting over-exaggerated. The picture is not a bad one. Where there is serious damage local authorities take action. I would instance authorities like Bournemouth and Southport, who take endless trouble with beaches and where there is obvious reason to gain on their part. On the whole, the country is well looked after by our maritime authorities.

§ LORD WYNNE-JONES
My Lords, would not the noble Lord agree that a similar answer might have been given a few years ago about water resources?