§ Mr. David PorterTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what evaluation his Department has made of the National Rivers Authority scheme to build an artificial reef off the shore off the north Norfolk coast; and what lessons he expects from the scheme proposals to be applicable to the remaining Norfolk and whole of Suffolk coastlines.
§ Mr. CurryThe National Rivers Authority's proposals to build an offshore reef to protect the Happisburgh to Winterton frontage of the north Norfolk coast are expected to be submitted to our engineers early in May. The Department has been kept fully informed of developments on the scheme as the NRA's consultants have progressed the design of the scheme, in the light of the knowledge generated by the east coast management study. Our normal technical appraisal of the proposals for grant purposes can be carried out only once the scheme has been received, so it is too early to reach any firm conclusions about the proposals, or to make an assessment of whether it would be possible to apply a similar approach to the remaining Norfolk and Suffolk coastline.