Climate change: calling for a new approach to ensure communities are resilient to the threat of flooding >>> >>> "We can’t win a war against water by building away climate change with infinitely high flood defences."

The Environment Agency has just launched a key strategy: 

Environment Agency Chair calls for new approach to flood and coastal resilience

Environment Agency Chair, Emma Howard Boyd launches long-term strategy to tackle flooding and coastal change.

Published 9 May 2019
From:Environment Agency

• EA preparing for 4°C rise in global temperature and will develop new standards of flood resilience for communities
• All infrastructure resilient to flooding and coastal change by 2050
• £1 billion per year needed in traditional flood and coastal defences
• Climate change & population growth set to double number of properties built on flood plain over next 50 years

Launching a major, long-term strategy to tackle flooding and coastal change, Environment Agency Chair, Emma Howard Boyd has said ‘we cannot win a war against water’ by building higher flood defences and called for a new approach to ensure communities are resilient to the threat of flooding posed by climate change.

Opening an 8-week consultation on the new strategy, Emma Howard Boyd said that the Environment Agency is preparing for a potential 4°C rise in global temperature and urgent action is needed to tackle more frequent, intense flooding and sea level rise.

Among the recommendations in the strategy, the Environment Agency has committed to working with partners to develop consistent standards for flood and coastal resilience across the country. To achieve these standards, communities should have access to a range of tools which give them control of how they prepare for and respond to flooding and coastal change, based on the challenges or flood risk that particular location may face.

These could include traditional defences, temporary barriers, natural flood management, sustainable drainage systems, effective flood warnings and emergency response, alongside designing and adapting existing properties and new development so they can recover quickly from a flood.

Launching the strategy at Brunel University in London, Emma Howard Boyd said:

The coastline has never stayed in the same place and there have always been floods, but climate change is increasing and accelerating these threats.

We can’t win a war against water by building away climate change with infinitely high flood defences. We need to develop consistent standards for flood and coastal resilience in England that help communities better understand their risk and give them more control about how to adapt and respond.
Currently, two thirds of properties in England are served by infrastructure in areas at risk of flooding and for every person who suffers flooding, around 16 more are affected by loss of services such as power, transport and telecommunications.

The strategy calls for all infrastructure to be flood resilient by 2050 and the Environment Agency has committed to working with risk management authorities and infrastructure providers to achieve this.

In addition to resilience measures, an average of £1 billion will need to be invested each year in traditional flood and coastal defences and natural flood management. The National Audit Office has previously reported that for every £1 spent on protecting communities, around £9 in property damages and wider impacts is avoided.

As well as taking precautions to prepare for flooding and prevent damage, the strategy calls for more to be done to encourage property owners to ‘build back better’ after a flood. This could involve home improvements to make them more resilient, such as raised electrics, hard flooring and flood doors. The Environment Agency will work with government, insurers and financial institutions to review how to bring about this change by 2025.

Over 5 million people in England are at risk from flooding and coastal erosion. Yet only a third of people who live in areas at risk of flooding believe their property is at risk. The strategy pledges to build a nation of ‘climate champions’ working with the school curriculum to educate young people about the risk and continuing to develop accessible digital tools to communicate flooding. 

Environment Agency Chair calls for new approach to flood and coastal resilience - GOV.UK

The press has taken up the headline-catching possibility of having to relocate coastal communities:
Climate crisis: flooding threat ‘may force UK towns to be abandoned’ | Environment | The Guardian
Climate change could 'force UK residents to abandon their towns' | The Independent
Climate change: UK communities may need to move away from coasts and rivers – Channel 4 News
Environment Agency warns climate change could force communities at risk of flooding to move | Environment | Eastern Daily Press

Rather, the CEO of the Environment Agency, speaking last month, made the point that we can see this as an opportunity - especially as an opportunity to build coalitions. Sir James Bevan finished his speech thus: 

Seventh and final lesson from Brexit for how to tackle this climate emergency; and it’s this: if you want to succeed, build a broad coalition. Not just cross party, but between government, business and the third sector, and critically with the public. While climate change isn’t the new Brexit, pulling together as a nation to focus on tackling climate change could help bring our country back together. After nearly three years of argument over Brexit, all the polls show that most people want to move on. Many want something bigger to believe in that they can work towards and connect with on an emotional level. Climate change could provide that rallying point. Because while there may or may not turn out to be a Plan B for Brexit, there is no Planet B for us.

Climate Change: Turning emergency into opportunity - GOV.UK
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Climate change: Environment Agency says that within 25 years England will not have enough water to meet demand

There's just been a big conference on water resources:
19th and 20th March 2019 – Annual Waterwise Conference – Book Here Now – Waterwise

The big news coming out of that is that we are going to be running out:
Water shortage on way in the next two decades experts warn | The Weather Channel
England Could Run Out of Fresh Water in 25 Years - EcoWatch
This is what the UK needs to do to avoid running out of water | WIRED UK

The BBC reports: 

Climate change: Water shortages in England 'within 25 years'

19 March 2019

Within 25 years England will not have enough water to meet demand, the head of the Environment Agency is warning.

The impact of climate change, combined with population growth, means the country is facing an "existential threat", Sir James Bevan told the Waterwise Conference in London. He wants to see wasting water become "as socially unacceptable as blowing smoke in the face of a baby. We all need to use less water and use it more efficiently."

Sir James Bevan was appointed chief executive of the Environment Agency - the public body responsible for protecting the environment and wildlife in England - in 2015 after a career as a diplomat.

He told his audience that, in around 20 to 25 years, England would reach the "jaws of death - the point at which, unless we take action to change things, we will not have enough water to supply our needs".

By Roger Harrabin, BBC Environment Analyst

The tone of Sir James' warnings is more strident than we're used to. Phrases like "existential threat" and "jaws of death" are, he admits, designed to jolt people into facing uncomfortable truths.

The problem is the unfortunate combination of growing population and potentially shrinking supply by 2040. That implies a suite of tough decisions like persuading consumers and firms to use less water.

The most pressing decisions, though, are over hardware. Infrastructure developments like giant pipes transferring water to the South East will be years in the planning. There's a risk to wildlife, too.

But most controversial are plans for reservoirs. Locals have been fighting one in South Oxfordshire since the 1990s. Protestors say they acknowledge the water shortage problem but believe water firms are exaggerating the level of population growth. What's more, they say, reservoirs in a water shortage area like the Thames Valley is not a wise solution. And they will fight on.

'Use 40 litres less a day'

Alongside action being taken by the government, water companies and regulators, Sir James wants the public to use less water, and use it more efficiently. Currently, people in England use an average of 140 litres of water a day. Sir James is calling on people to cut their usage to 100 litres - the target set by Waterwise, which campaigns for water efficiency.

"In the last few decades we've radically changed behaviour on smoking (everybody did it) and seatbelts (nobody wore them)," he is expected to say. "In the last two years we've changed behaviour on plastic. We need water wastage to be as socially unacceptable as blowing smoke in the face of a baby or throwing your plastic bags into the sea."

Sir James' list of 'things we can all do'

> Get a low-flush toilet
> Take short showers, not deep baths
> Use the most efficient shower-head
> Get a water-efficient washing machine
> Don't use your dishwasher until it's full
> Turn the tap off when brushing your teeth
> Don't water your lawn (it will survive)

"If by 2050 we reduced per capita consumption to 100 litres a day, leakage by 50%, and did nothing else, it would provide enough water for an additional 20 million people without taking any more from the environment," Sir James said.

Sir James in his speech declined to get embroiled in the political arguments over whether water companies should remain privatised or be taken back into public ownership. However, he did say that the present companies needed to up their game - on fixing leaks, bearing down on pollution and making the necessary investments that would future-proof the water delivery system.

Reality Check: What have water companies done on leaks?

Need for new reservoirs

And as well as reducing demand for water, he also called for a big push on maximising its supply.

This, he said, would include:
> Water transfers between regions, from areas of water surplus to areas of deficit
> Desalination plants that convert brackish water from into clean drinking water
> New reservoirs to be built to hold water for use in times of severe water stress

"We have not built a new reservoir in the UK for decades, largely because clearing all the planning and legal hurdles necessary is so difficult and local opposition so fierce," he explained.

But, Sir James argued, the economic case for greater resilience was clear, citing a 2016 Environment Agency report that found "that while a severe drought would cost each household more than £100, the cost per household of the investment that would greatly reduce the risk was only £4 a year."

The Environment Agency has previously warned of water shortages by 2050 and the government has already suggested that people's water use should be reduced, in its 25-year plan published last year.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have separate public bodies responsible for environment protection, because the environment is a devolved matter.

Climate change: Water shortages in England 'within 25 years' - BBC News
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Climate change: long term action to adapt the South West coast to climate change in a sustainable way is possible and could deliver benefits

The IPCC has just issued its last report - and the UN has been meeting in Poland:
Futures Forum: Climate change: "our greatest threat"

A month ago, the UK's committee on climate change issued its own report:


Erosion and rising sea levels 'will wash homes into the sea' by 2100

Coast regions of Devon and Cornwall are at risk

Rom Preston-Ellis News Reporter
31 OCT 2018



High winds and waves battering Meadfoot, Torquay.

New research has found that coastal parts of Devon and Cornwall are at risk of being washed into the sea due to rising sea levels and erosion over the next 80 years.

A new, long-term approach to coastal management in England is urgently needed given the expected impacts of climate change, the Committee on Climate Change, has said. A report by the CCC states that climate change will "almost certainly cause sea levels around the UK to increase by one metre or more at some point in the future." It is warned that this could happen as early as 2100 – within the lifetimes of today’s children.

The report adds that long term action to adapt the South West coast to climate change in a sustainable way is possible and could deliver benefits.

Currently there are 520,000 properties in England, including 370,000 homes, are located in areas at risk of damage from coastal flooding and 8,900 properties are in areas at risk of being lost through coastal erosion.




A train navigates the spray at Dawlish

By the 2080s, up to 1.5m properties, including 1.2m homes, may be in areas at significant level of flood risk and over 100,000 properties may be in areas at risk from coastal erosion. In addition, 1,600km of major roads, 650km of railway line, 92 railway stations and 55 historic landfill sites are at risk of coastal flooding or erosion by 2100.

Damages from flooding and erosion are over £260m on average each year.

Professor Jim Hall, the CCC Adaptation Committee’s expert on flooding and coastal erosion, said: "As the climate changes the current approach to protecting the English coastline is not fit for purpose.

The five recommendations to protect the South West coast



> The scale and implications of future coastal change should be acknowledged by those with responsibility for the coast and adequately communicated to people living on the coast.

> Local Government and the Environment Agency must work with affected communities to develop realistic long-term strategies that are rigorously implemented in Local Plans, regulations and projects.

> The UK Government’s approach to the management of coastal flooding and erosion risk needs to change. A new approach should be long-term, evidence-based, and include the views of coastal communities.

> The Government should make long-term funding and investment available to protect coastal cities and infrastructure, restore more coastal habitats and help affected communities cope with inevitable changes.

> Plans to manage and adapt specific shorelines over the coming century should be realistic and sustainable in economic, social and environmental terms.

"It’s time people woke up to the very real challenges ahead. As sea levels rise and flooding and erosion get worse, we have assessed that current plans for around 150 kilometres, or 90 miles, of the coastline are not cost-beneficial to implement.

"The Government and local authorities need to talk honestly with those affected about the difficult choices they face. Climate change is not going away: action is needed now to improve the way England’s coasts are managed today and in the future, to reduce the polluting emissions which cause climate change, and to prepare seaside communities for the realities of a warming world."


Erosion and rising sea levels 'will wash homes into the sea' by 2100 - Devon Live
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The plastics recycling industry is facing an investigation into suspected widespread abuse and fraud within the export system

There are still outstanding Freedom of Information requests to both the District and County Councils:
Futures Forum: District Council and plastic pollution >>> What percentage is recycled, what percentage is incinerated and what percentage goes to landfill? Some answers received...
Futures Forum: District Council and plastic pollution >>> What percentage is recycled, what percentage is incinerated and what percentage goes to landfill?
Futures Forum: County Council and plastic pollution >>> "the Council will use its position and responsibility to raise awareness of the issues surrounding single-use plastics" >>> BUT the Council "does not hold information" on how its reprocessors deal with its plastic waste

It's proving very difficult to get to the bottom of what exactly happens to our plastic rubbish:
Futures Forum: Plastic recycling and greenwashing

Today's Guardian dug deep: 

Plastics

UK recycling industry under investigation for fraud and corruption

Exclusive: Watchdog examining claims plastic waste is not being recycled but left to leak into rivers and oceans

Sandra Laville

Thu 18 Oct 2018 17.00 BST

 Household waste imported from Britain that was improperly labeled as recyclable plastic, in Santos, Brazil. Photograph: Mauricio Lima/AFP/Getty Images

The plastics recycling industry is facing an investigation into suspected widespread abuse and fraud within the export system amid warnings the world is about to close the door on UK packaging waste, the Guardian has learned.

The Environment Agency (EA) has set up a team of investigators, including three retired police officers, in an attempt to deal with complaints that organised criminals and firms are abusing the system.

Six UK exporters of plastic waste have had their licences suspended or cancelled in the last three months, according to EA data. One firm has had 57 containers of plastic waste stopped at UK ports in the last three years due to concerns over contamination of waste.

Allegations that the agency is understood to be investigating include:

• Exporters are falsely claiming for tens of thousands of tonnes of plastic waste which might not exist
• UK plastic waste is not being recycled and is being left to leak into rivers and oceans
• Illegal shipments of plastic waste are being routed to the Far East via the Netherlands
• UK firms with serial offences of shipping contaminated waste are being allowed to continue exporting.

UK households and businesses used 11m tonnes of packaging last year, according to government figures. Two-thirds of our plastic packaging waste is exported by an export industry which was worth more than £50m last year.

The exporters make millions by charging retailers and manufacturers a fluctuating tonnage rate for plastic waste recovery notes – currently £60 a tonne. Retailers buy these plastic export recovery notes – Perns – to satisfy the government they are contributing something to recycling plastic packaging waste.

But the system – which was heavily criticised as open to fraud and abuse by the National Audit Office this summer – relies on companies making self declarations about how much packaging they are exporting.

The Guardian understands information has been passed to the EA – the regulators – which shows huge discrepancies between the amount of packaging exports recorded by HM customs, compared to the amount UK exporters claim to have shipped.

The data, analysed by the Guardian, reveals British export firms claim to have shipped abroad 35,135 tonnes more plastic than HM Customs has recorded leaving the country.

One source with knowledge of the inquiry said: “In the last few months the customs figures on waste plastic are lower than the figures given to the Environment Agency by the exporters – suggesting more people are shipping stuff they claim is waste plastic in order to get the Pern price.

“Perns are running at around £60-70 a tonne, so that encourages all sorts of people to pursue the export market, and the question is whether the enforcement is strong enough to detect whether this is actually plastic waste being shipped out.”

At least 100 containers of plastic waste a day are shipped out from ports including Felixstowe and Southampton to Europe and the Far East. Insiders said EA staff have never visited any of the countries or sites where British waste plastic is exported for recycling.

Jacob Hayler, executive director of the Environmental Services Association (ESA), is one of many individuals who has raised the issue of the discrepancy in figures with the EA.

“We have flagged this and they are aware of it,” he said. ‘The agency and others are looking at how to improve enforcement … there is organised crime, and criminal gangs exploit the system, that does go on.”

The ongoing investigation into corruption in the plastics industry comes as the UK seeks new international markets for its plastic waste.

In January, China stopped accepting British plastic waste and exports shifted to Malaysia, Vietnam and Poland. But Malaysia and Vietnam have imposed temporary bans on imports and Poland is considering restrictions, a sign that countries are growing more wary amid evidence of high contamination rates.

Figures seen by the Guardian show UK exports to Turkey and the Netherlands soaring as a result. Several insiders told the Guardian the export market – which the UK relies on as it struggles to meet a target to reprocess more than half its plastic waste by 2020 – could dry up within weeks.

Phil Conran, director 360 Environmental and chair of the government’s advisory committee on packaging, said: “All these markets are effectively closing the door to the poor quality material and they are increasingly limited in what they will accept of the better quality material.

“At the moment material is still being collected and still going somewhere ... but all the sense is that we have reached a tipping point and we simply are struggling to find markets for material that is being collected.”

The new markets have brought more fears of abuse within the system. According to packaging declarations made by companies, the UK exported 27,034 tonnes of waste plastic to Turkey in the first three months of this year compared to 12,022 tonnes in the first three months of 2017. Netherlands exports have risen by nearly 10,000 tonnes in the first six months of this year, compared to the same period in 2016; 38,207 tonnes in 2018 compared to 28,784 in 2016.

Turkey’s plastic waste imports from the UK are booming – but at what cost?

 

Read more

The EA has been passed allegations that export firms are using the Netherlands to effectively launder plastic waste – exploiting looser controls over shipments to Europe – before illegally moving it out to other countries in the Far East, where they might struggle to get approval under the UK licence system.

Addie van der Spapen, of Netherlands recycling firm Kunststof Recycling, said the country certainly did not have the capacity to reprocess increased amounts of plastic waste from the UK. “It won’t all get recycled. Europe is getting overflowed with the material from England, they are flooding Europe with their plastic,” he said.

The growing market in Turkey is also raising fears that more UK plastic waste will leak into the oceans.

One source said: “The concern about Turkey is more whether material is being stored to be recycled later, or not recycled at all and being burnt.”

An inquiry by the National Audit Office [pdf] earlier this year criticised the lack of rigour by the EA and the Government.

“The financial incentive for companies to fraudulently claim they have recycled plastic packaging is higher than for any other material,” they said.

“There is therefore a risk that some of it is not recycled under equivalent standards to the UK and is instead sent to landfill or contributes to pollution.”

Marie Fallon, of the Environment Agency, has confirmed to MPs an intelligence led central investigations team has been set up to tackle corruption and fraud within the export system.

Fallon accepted the agency could have done better over the years in tackling abuses. In 2016-17 staff carried out fewer than 40 pc of 346 spot checks on companies it had planned. This year five export firms flagged as red rated for risk are still operating and 33 considered to be of medium risk are also still accredited to export waste.

UK recycling industry under investigation for fraud and corruption | Environment | The Guardian
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Beach Management Plan: District Council press release on meeting of 9th August > "£2.4million funding shortfall"

The steering group of the BMP met up in May: here's the District Council's take on it:
Futures Forum: Beach Management Plan: District Council press release on meeting of 10th May > "Outline business case makes steady progress"

The group met up again earlier this month: again, because no minutes are taken, we have to rely on the 'official' press release:

Positive project update for Sidmouth and East Beach Management Scheme steering group

When this content has been created

23 August 2018

Photo impression of the raised splashwall on Sidmouth promenade – please note this visual is shown without the planned enhancements which could include seating and planting and a better finish to the wall.

However £2.4million funding shortfall still needs to be provided locally if beach management scheme is to go ahead

The Sidmouth and East Beach Management Scheme steering group received a positive project update from East Devon District Council and its consultants Royal HaskoningDHV when it met recently.

The project steering group is made up of local groups and organisations, as well as statutory bodies such as Natural England and the Environment Agency, who act as an important link between the community, businesses and regulatory bodies.

Royal HaskoningDHV explained the more detailed technical, economic and environmental assessments of different permutations of the scheme, which they have undertaken since they last met with the Steering Group in May 2018.

They have analysed the differing groyne lengths and the impact that variations in length can have on the erosion of East Beach, to agree a final design for the outline business case, which is the best balance of capital and maintenance costs.

The steering group was also shown draft visualisations of the scheme from key view points along the coast, which form part of the landscape and visual impact assessment for the scheme. Views from the town towards the sea have been considered and consultation with East Devon’s heritage and landscape officers is ongoing, to see how the impact on these views can best be mitigated, without compromising the objective of the scheme, which is to reduce the risk of flooding to low-lying areas of the town centre.

The steering group asked that the visualisations are circulated after the meeting although at present the finishes, and enhancements which will be added at detailed design are not shown. East Devon have included in the business case funding to enhance the splashwall with good quality finishes, relocated openings to make sure they are best situated in relation to where people wish to walk, to explore opportunities to declutter and improve seating so that people can benefit from the sheltering effect of the higher splashwall between the road traffic and promenade.

Cost estimates for the scheme have also been updated, with Royal HaskoningDHV working closely with experienced coastal contractor J T Mackley to ensure estimates are realistic. 

The revised cost estimate for construction of the scheme is £8.9million. Based on the economic analysis and the number of properties at risk of flooding in the town, this means that around £3million of funding needs to be provided locally for the scheme to go ahead.

East Devon has been working to help fill this funding gap, with £0.5M currently committed towards the scheme by East Devon, with Devon County Council indicating that they could contribute £0.5M as the scheme reduces waves overtopping onto the seafront road and Sidmouth Town Council able to provide £100,000 towards improved water access at Port Royal. Discussions around funding are continuing with other sources including developer contributions for better water access.

However, it was stressed at the meeting that if additional funding doesn’t come forward from the Town, then the scheme would be delayed until such time more funding was available.

Cllr Tom Wright, East Devon District Council’s portfolio holder portfolio holder for the Environment and Chair of the steering group, said:

We’ve made great progress with the steering group in getting the scheme to this stage. We now have an excellent scheme which is environmentally acceptable to reduce the risk of flood and erosion to the town. Much has been done to reduce the funding gap, however as discussed by the steering group, a significant amount is still needed from the local community to help secure the future prosperity of the town. 

It was really helpful to hear from the community groups who make up much of the steering group, and their reaction to the images, showing the increased height of the splash wall, shows how supportive they are of this change in order to reduce the risk to the town. They were excited by the opportunity to enhance the seafront through these changes which could include seating and planting. All plans will be subject to further consultation. 

23 August 2018 - Positive project update for Sidmouth and East Beach Management Scheme steering group - East Devon

Not everyone is so positive:
Futures Forum: Beach Management Plan: "In the long-term, we need to build more offshore breakwaters across the front and these could be semi-submerged so that they would not be visible for most of the time."
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A sensory garden for Sidmouth >>> official opening

The sensory garden for Sidmouth has taken a lot of planning to get together:
Futures Forum: A sensory garden for Sidmouth >>> funding to help project revitalise a rather tired part of town

And after all these efforts, it was officially opened last month:
Futures Forum: The Big Lunch on The Ham >>> Saturday 2nd June >>> Anne Swithenbank to open the Sensory Garden

With a photo piece from the latest Herald:

New sensory garden opens at the Old Boat Park in Sidmouth

PUBLISHED: 16:00 06 July 2018

Philippa Davies

Flowers and plants to attract birds, bees and insects at the new sensory garden

New sensory garden opens after two years of work

Local TV gardener Anne Swithinbank officially opened the sensory garden

Sidmouth has a new haven for quiet relaxation, meditation and reflection, following the creation of a sensory garden in the Old Boat Park at the end of the Ham by Sidmouth In Bloom.

It was designed by Lynette Talbot to feature plants that could thrive in the windy, salty conditions, and to attract birds, bees and other insects.

Volunteers removed overgrown shrubs, pampas grasses and other plants, and replaced the weed-infested topsoil with new soil and grit, before planting the new garden. It was officially opened by east Devon’s TV gardener Anne Swithinbank on Saturday, June 2.

The garden has plenty of seats, and QR codes on signs to identify the different plants. The team also plan to install bird and bat boxes.

Visitors enjoying Sidmouth's new sensory garden

The preparation of the site was managed by Peter Endersby, and Sidmouth In Bloom would also like to thank the team of volunteers, along with EDDC Streetscene for their help and advice.

Sidmouth In Bloom create new sensory garden at the Old Boat Park | Latest Sidmouth and Ottery News - Sidmouth Herald
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East Devon Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) >>> a critique

The District Council have just issued a consultation document on ... how to deal with 'consultation' on planning matters:

Dear Sir or Madam

East Devon Statement of Community Involvement (SCI)

As you are on our database representing an organisation I am writing to advise that the Council is currently consulting on the new Statement of Community Involvement (SCI). This is the document which sets out how, where and when we will consult on planning matters such as Policy documents, planning applications and Neighbourhood Plans.

The SCI is available for comment  from 3rd July to 15th August 2018. All comments will be considered by the Council and will inform subsequent versions of the document.

Any comments should be marked ‘SCI’ and emailed to planningpolicy@eastdevon.gov.uk or posted to Planning Policy Team, East Devon District Council, Knowle, Sidmouth, EX10 8HL

Phone: 01395 571533

Here is the document:
East Devon District Council Statement of Community Involvement

From an initial overview, questions remain as to how much 'community involvement' there would actually be.

For example:

> Nobody wanted the employment land allocation at Sidford in the Local Plan, but it was included because of lobbying from the District's larger businesses and not because of any 'community involvment':
Futures Forum: Sidford business park >>> and the East Devon Business Forum revisited

> Not that the Environment Agency was listening either:
Futures Forum: Sidford business park > Fords planning application >>> 16/0669/MOUT >>> Environment Agency appears to contradict its own guidance on flooding and climate change >>> EA to reply to SVA

> Nobody asked for the District Council to move its HQ from Sidmouth: there was absolutely no 'community involvement' at the outset, but simply the pursuit of an obsession:
Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project 2008: “We’ll be seriously looking at the future of us staying in this building for numerous reasons.” OR: "Given current market values and the likely cost of relocation, it would be a close run thing as to whether a move was viable.”

> The Beach Management Plan for Sidmouth's East Beach has been beset from the start by the basic lack of 'community involvement':
Futures Forum: Beach Management Plan: and the consistency of the frustrations faced by the volunteer stakeholders >>> steering group to meet tomorrow, Thursday 10th May

> What to do about Port Royal never had anything to do with 'community involvement':
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal 2009: "We are desperate for someone to buy this site and to give us good money for it."

> Besides, the various bits of 'consultation' were abandoned anyway:
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal: "What were all these plans, meetings and consultations actually FOR?"
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal: "... following 18 months of consultation, communication and engagement with the local community to find out what they would like to see there."

The proposals set out in the latest document from the District Council do not look as if any of the above scenarios would not happen again in East Devon.

In fact, they do little to dispel the impression that 'consultation' is simply about ticking boxes:

Many government consultations are more about meeting legal requirements than listening : Democratic Audit UK
Tick-box “consultations” | East Devon Watch

This is all part of a greater political malaise:
Consultation by Parliament should be more than asking people for their views then ignoring them | East Devon Watch
“Alienated voters ‘don’t feel Brexit will help them retake control’ over decision making” | East Devon Watch

We need to get real about this:
Making Consultation Meaningful
Yes, we can make consultation “meaningful” and here’s how | National Newswatch

Which means going way beyond the passivity of 'consultation':
Futures Forum: "Consultation is not enough: that sometimes those affected by decisions improve the outcome not just by being heard, but by participating."

With the Neighbourhood Planning process being a good example of what can be done:
Consultations – Sid Valley Neighbourhood Plan
Sid Valley residents asked to take part in ‘the most significant’ consultation’ in the area | Latest Sidmouth and Ottery News - Sidmouth Herald

To finish with a proposal:

Tackling the ‘black hole’ of consultation

March 23, 2018

The Case for Public Consultation Hearings

In its latest Briefing Paper, the Institute argues the case for Public Consultation Hearings. In the recommended format, organisations undertaking a consultation will provide the opportunity for selected consultees to appear before decision-makers and give their evidence and their viewpoint – a little like Parliamentary Select Committees.

It is not a new idea, but there are important reasons why the time is right to consider these forms of dialogue:

> People are heartily fed up with perfunctory, tick-in-the box forms of dialogue, especially simplistic online surveys with questions like ‘Do you agree with us that we should revise the regulations …. Blah blah.? ‘ Serious stakeholders want a better level of debate that considers issues properly. Public hearings can help. 

> We have to tackle what can be described on the week of Stephen Hawkins’ death) as the consultation ‘black hole’ It is where respondents make a submission or reply to a consultation but have no idea what happens to their views. Does anyone read them? Are they considered? If so, by whom. It is as if responses disappear down a black home never to reappear. Public hearings are one way to demonstrate that consultors listen! 

> All the emphasis is now on digital dialogues, and they have many fine features that encourage participation by large numbers who might not have responded using traditional methods. Public hearings can be a welcome antidote to the de-personalisation of electronic media – where real people can be seen to sit down and discuss evidence. Video-streaming can make this visible and transparent to far wider audiences, and be living proof that consultation is really taking place.

The Briefing Paper looks at the role of evidence in public debate, and the need for participants in consultations to evidence their claims and assertions. It then presents the arguments in favour of public hearings, and explores whether they might work in the context of public consultations. For existing public engagement practitioners, the most valuable section may well be on the practicalities of organising a programme of hearings and the challenges that might need to be overcome.

Our conclusion is that where there is a considerable amount of public interest, or where the subject-matter is deeply controversial, they will help convince sceptical communities that decision-makers care enough to explore the issues openly and in public. There is even a case for holding events like this well before a consultation is launched. A pre-consultation exploration of key issues and an opportunity for stakeholder to spell out what they would like to see considered might be a first-rate way of involving the public. Used in this way, hearings can even form part of a co-production approach.

Make your own mind up by reading the latest ‘Briefing Paper 35’ which you can view here if you are member. Alternatively contact Rebecca Wright to request a copy if you are not a member, or would like Institute Associates to help prepare a programme of Public Consultation Hearings for your own organisation.

Tackling the ‘black hole’ of consultation — The Consultation Institute
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Plastics Week in Sidmouth > Presentations and Q&As on marine pollution from Plymouth University >>> >>> >>> Sohvi Nuojua on "The human dimension: How social and behvioural research can help address marine litter"

Last week, Plastics Week in Sidmouth started with two talks on marine pollution:
Futures Forum: Plastics Week in Sidmouth > Presentations and Q&As on marine pollution from Plymouth University > Tues 8th May

Here is the set of slides from the talk by Sohvi Nuojua of the University of Plymouth:

See also:
Futures Forum: Tuamor the Turtle comes to the Sidmouth Sea Fest > Saturday 12th May
Futures Forum: Plastic waste > "The general public remains largely ignorant of the sheer diversity of polymers and their uses."
Futures Forum: Marlisco > raising awareness around plastic pollution at sea
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