Around 400,000 cubic metres of sand are set to be pumped onto Lincolnshire’s beaches to reduce flood risk to more than 20,000 homes and businesses, 24,500 static caravans and 35,000 hectares of land in a massive Environment Agency-led project.

The Lincolnshire Beach Management project involves the raising of beach levels lost naturally to the sea, by dredging sand from the seabed and pumping it onshore. The work forms a key part of the Environment Agency’s management strategy for the Lincolnshire coast, which reduces coastal flood risk to thousands of homes, businesses and static caravans as well as agricultural land.

Reducing flood risk

The project started on 30 April at Boygrift. Over the course of the next eight weeks, the dredger will move to Trusthorpe, Mablethorpe, Ingoldmells, Trunch Lane, Wolla Bank, Chapel Six Marshes and Huttoft to complete the project for this year.

The HAM316 dredger, which has the lowest carbon footprint of its class, is operating continuously, delivering approximately 5,000 cubic metres of sand twice a day.

Mark Robinson, senior coastal advisor at the Environment Agency, said:

Our work to restore beach levels is important as it protects our coastal defences, such as sea walls, from the energy of the waves as they impact on the coast.

Our defences along the Lincolnshire coast help us reduce coastal flood risk to tens of thousands of homes and businesses as well as significant areas of agricultural land. By replenishing beaches, we extend the defences’ life.

The project also brings value to the bustling tourism economy on Lincolnshire’s coast, as without it Lincolnshire’s beaches would not be nearly as sandy.

Although the Environment Agency works around the clock to reduce flood risk to Lincolnshire’s coastal communities, the risk can never be eliminated completely.

Background

• The work to restore beach levels on Lincolnshire’s coast is part of the Lincolnshire Beach Management 2018-2021 scheme.
• With storms and flooding becoming more frequent and sea levels rising due to climate change, the Environment Agency has recognised a need to review whether the current coastal flood risk management approach will be sustainable in the long term for Lincolnshire. The agency has therefore been consulting with the public on six coastal flood risk options to work alongside beach nourishment as part of the Saltfleet to Gibraltar Point Strategy. This strategy will set out the most sustainable way of managing flood risk on this stretch of coast from 2021 to 2121. A draft strategy will be taken to consultation this summer.
• More details on the strategy and further information regarding times and locations of beach nourishment works are available online
• The Environment Agency is working to better protect more than 49,000 additional homes and businesses across Lincolnshire with £221m of government investment by 2021.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has announced a £2 million funding boost for regional transport organisations in the South East of England to develop ambitious strategies to improve journeys for goods and passengers.

As part of the government’s ambition to give regions across the UK greater influence over transport investment decisions, sub-national transport bodies England’s Economic Heartland and Transport for the South East will be given £2 million of government funding to develop innovative transport plans fit for the future of their regions.

These plans will allow people in counties including Kent, Hampshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire to influence government investment decisions at a more regional level, filling the existing gap between national and local transport authorities.

Chris Grayling, Transport Secretary, said:

This government is committed to empowering regions across the UK by giving them a stronger influence over the future of transport in their area.

This will help us build the modern and effective links our country needs, improving journey times, boosting housing development and economic growth, and getting people and goods where they need to be faster, safely and more comfortably.

Investing in England’s Economic Heartland and Transport for the South East means that those best placed to make decisions have our support to put forward ambitious proposals for the future. We will continue to work closely with these organisations as they develop transport strategies to help their regions seize their potential.

Councillor Keith Glazier, Chairman of Transport for the South East, said:

This is a great step forward for our region’s transport system and all the people who rely on it. We’re grateful to the DfT for this vote of confidence in Transport for the South East and in the work we’re doing with them to ensure we have an innovative and efficient network for decades to come.

Councillor Martin Tett, Chairman of England’s Economic Heartland, said:

This investment by government is good news for England’s Economic Heartland and will help us deliver our ambitious programme of work over the next 12 months, which includes work to develop an over-arching Transport Strategy and taking forward work to establish England’s Economic Heartland as a sub-national transport body.

We share the government’s ambition to realise the economic potential of our region. England’s Economic Heartland is committed to working collaboratively with the government to ensure that we get the right investment in strategic infrastructure, at the right time, and in the right locations. This vote of confidence in England’s Economic Heartland will help ensure our region can compete on the global stage by exploiting its excellence in innovation, technology and research.

Today’s announcement coincides with Transport for the South East launching its Economic Connectivity Review in Farnborough. This represents a key milestone in its work towards developing a transport strategy for the South East, helping improve journeys for 7.5 million people and 329,000 businesses from Berkshire to Kent.

England’s Economic Heartland is a body covering an area from Oxfordshire through to Cambridgeshire County. It is currently developing its blueprint for transport to unlock jobs and housing across the region.

Both will look to follow in the footsteps of England’s first sub-national transport body, Transport for the North, which became a statutory body on 1 April 2018.