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: and property prices

Property prices are affected by climate change:
Futures Forum: If you have an expensive house near the sea, it’s time to sell
Futures Forum: Climate change: subsidies, the insurance industry and behavioural economics
Futures Forum: Flooding: "Have decisions made by the public and politicians alike made things worse?"

Not wishing to be too alarmist, but as CNBC in the United States reports today: 

Climate change will crush real estate values for investors who don't prepare, new report says

Diana Olick | @DianaOlick Published 6 Hours Ago Updated 2 Hours Ago
CNBC.com

File:FEMA - 40651 - Flooding of Sheyenne River in Valley City, ND claims house.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

Scott Olson | Getty Images
A house is surrounded by floodwater from the Red River on April 11, 2011 near Fargo, North Dakota. Although the Red River crested in Fargo on Saturday at 38.75 feet, the fourth-highest flood on record, areas north of the city are still experiencing near-record flooding.

For any investor, measuring opportunity against risk is critical. And for real estate investors in particular, risk is rising exponentially in the age of climate change.

To that end, big real estate firms are pouring significant resources into calculating climate risk and its likely effect on property portfolios — everything from increasingly extreme weather to a rise in sea levels.

"This process will be painful for investors who are caught off guard, but those who are prepared have the potential to outperform," a new report from the Urban Land Institute said.

Damage to U.S. real estate from extreme storms hit a record high in 2017. Natural disasters, including floods, mudslides and wildfires, cost more than $300 billion in damage, the bulk of it to residential and commercial real estate.

In 2018, from May through July, much of the East Coast, down to Florida, saw rainfall up to three times normal levels, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Nine of the top 10 years for one-day extreme precipitation events have occurred since 1990, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), because as the atmosphere warms, clouds hold more water.

All of these statistics are not just alarming, they are sounding the alarm bells for the real estate investment sector, because it is most vulnerable.

"Understanding and mitigating climate risk is a complex and evolving challenge for real estate investors," said ULI's CEO, Edward Walter. "Risks such as sea level rise and heat stress will increasingly highlight the vulnerability not only of individual assets and locations, but of entire metropolitan areas."

The report highlights how real estate investment companies are now prioritizing the risk of climate change and creating new approaches to better gauge and develop mitigation strategies.

"Building for resilience, on a portfolio, property and citywide basis, is paramount to staying competitive. Factoring in climate risk is becoming the new normal for our industry," added Walter.

Some of the strategies, according to the report, include:

• Mapping physical risk for current portfolios and potential acquisitions;
• Incorporating climate risk into due diligence and other investment decision-making processes;
• Incorporating additional physical adaptation and mitigation measures for assets at risk;
• Exploring a variety of strategies to mitigate risk, including portfolio diversification and investing directly in the mitigation measures for specific assets; and
• Engaging with policymakers on local resilience strategies.

"Investors see climate considerations as a necessary layer of fiduciary responsibility to their stakeholders, as well as an opportunity to identify markets and assets that will benefit from a changing climate," according to the report. "While early adapters have committed resources to gain knowledge and improve awareness of climate risk, in the coming years, methods are likely to become more sophisticated."

It also highlights the potential return on investment from putting resources into mitigation strategies for real estate assets.

Heitman, a Chicago-based real estate investment firm with nearly $34 billion in assets under management globally, worked with ULI on the report and is putting heavy resources, both financial and personnel, into measuring and balancing climate risk.

"The industry didn't seem to be pricing in these kinds of risks," said Mary Ludgin, senior managing director and head of global investment research at Heitman. "When we began the project of trying to identify the climate risk inherent in individual properties, we first looked to our insurers. They were less of a help than we were expecting."

That is because insurers reprice annually, and therefore do not look at long-term models. FEMA flood plains are reassessed about every five years, but they still don't account for the increasingly extreme weather and heavier rainfall that parts of the United States are now seeing.

"We can't try to determine what's going to happen in 12 months beyond, because insurance is set up for what your risk is today. And it wouldn't meet actuarial science to charge you for a future potential," said David Maurstad, FEMA's deputy associate administrator for federal insurance and mitigation and chief executive of the National Flood Insurance Program.

Changing valuations

Heitman is, therefore, going beyond traditional insurance predictions to factor climate risk into its investments. It hired a Berkeley, California-based firm called 427, one of a new cottage industry of companies that assess climate risk to real estate. It's mission, according to the website, is to catalyze climate adaptation and resilience investments by enabling the integration of climate science into business and policy decisions.

Carolyn Cole | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images
An aerial view of Paradise, California off of Clark Road on Nov. 15, 2018. The Camp Fire has burned more than 7,000 structures in Paradise.

"They were able to provide us an assessment of flooding, wildfires, wind-related disasters, and we can then aggregate that up to what is Heitman's total exposure globally or a specific client's exposure on the individual buildings they own. They can assess potential acquisitions and the risk that they represent," said Ludgin.

These risks include not just the destruction from individual natural disasters but business disruptions for property tenants and higher operating and capital costs caused by increased wear and tear on properties from more extreme weather.

As a whole, the industry needs to understand the pricing impacts of physical climate risks, and how climate change is likely to have a bigger impact on valuation in the future as asset and market liquidity are affected, the ULI report says.

And it's not just storms and sea level rise, but the potential higher costs associated with protecting cities and municipalities from both. In Miami, for example, the city is investing $200 million into resilience, installing pump stations and upgrading its infrastructure. Miami Beach is on track to spend twice that, raising sidewalks and seawalls. The money is coming from new bonds — voters raising their own property taxes to protect their property.

"Are taxes going to rise?" asked Ludgin. "We are looking at scenarios where taxes quadruple in the period that we hold the property. You can assume that federal, state, and local governments will play a role, and that means a climate in which taxes are likely rising."

All of it is a new and now necessary part of what real estate investors, developers and managers need to do to factor opportunity against risk.

"They are trying to think about how their portfolio is balanced and make sure they're not overexposed in a market that has more risk," said Walter. "Not redlining markets, but investors are trying to be thoughtful about the level of exposure to those markets."

That is because higher-risk assets will eventually see downward repricing, as the market redirects capital to locations and individual assets where it is expected to be better insulated from these particular risks, the ULI report said.


Climate change will crush real estate values for unprepared investors: Report
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Climate change and deforestation

Cutting down trees is not good for the environment - and is particularly bad for keeping down climate change:
Futures Forum: Climate change and the importance of halting rainforest destruction

The most spectacular impacts are in tropical parts of the world:
Futures Forum: Climate change: "paying developing countries to halt tropical deforestation would be one of the most cost-effective ways to tackle global warming."

But the UK is also implicated - and can do something: 

Deforestation and climate change: what's the link?

 

by Nick Atkinson, Senior Advisor

on 4 March 2019

Climate change is a global concern which challenges each and every one of us. Thankfully, more and more people are actively addressing the implications of climate change, and want to make a difference. But what do we mean by deforestation and climate change? What is the relationship between them? And how can you help?

What is climate change?

Global warming is measured as the mean annual average temperature of the Earth’s surface. It’s happening because greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels, like coal and natural gas, trap more of the sun’s energy in the atmosphere.

Scientists have found that global warming is causing climate change. Those rising greenhouse gas levels change air flows at a global scale. This leads to unpredictable weather such as storms, flooding and drought. Melting polar and glacier ice is also adding cooler water to the oceans. This in turn is causing shifts in currents that can have major effects on the weather.

Unpredictable and extreme weather events are being linked with climate change (Photo: Phil Lockwood/WTML)

What is deforestation?

Deforestation is an overall loss in the total area of woodland. We hear about it most in other parts of the world, like the Amazon, Canada and Indonesia. It’s often driven as much by the alternative land use of cleared land as it is by the value of the timber. Vast areas of the world’s forests have been destroyed to make way for:

• coffee, soy and palm oil plantations
• the cattle ranches that produce the world’s supply of beef burgers.

How deforestation affects climate change

Forests store enormous quantities of carbon. This is captured from carbon dioxide (a major greenhouse gas) in the air and turned into the structure of the tree. Microorganisms in the soil draw even more carbon into the forest floor – there is more carbon below ground than above. Left undisturbed, this carbon is safely locked away. But when the trees are cut down (and often burned) the carbon is released back into the atmosphere.

People often associate deforestation with other parts of the world but it's happening here in the UK too (Photo: WTML)

As well as storing carbon, forests also create their own weather systems. The trees and other vegetation circulate water vapour to create clouds and rain. Taking the trees away also takes away those weather systems, which can lead to desertification - 6000 years ago the Sahara was a tropical jungle! Around the world, we can already see examples of where this has happened. This highlights the need to stop cutting old growth forests.

Deforestation in the UK

Surprising as it might sound, deforestation can and does happen right here in the UK. We know of at least 800 woods that are currently under threat, usually from development. The rate of planted new woods is seriously low right now. The average in England has totalled just 1,000 hectares in recent years. That means there’s a very real prospect that we’re in a state of deforestation. And the UK has an internationally legally binding commitment not to do that!

We need more new woods and trees. They can do so much more than lock up carbon, also:

• reducing flood risk and soil erosion
• offering shade and shelter for livestock
• creating habitat for wildlife including pollinating insects
• even providing food for farm animals.

The HS2 rail project is the biggest single development threat to ancient woodland right now. Whitmore Wood in Staffordshire is one of 108 ancient woods threatened with loss or damage (Photo: Whitmore Wood (C) N Chadwick :: Geograph Britain and Ireland)

How you can help

By joining the Woodland Trust’s growing membership you can help to stop deforestation in the UK. You’ll be contributing to the fight to save threatened woodland and our beautiful, irreplaceable ancient woods. You’ll also be helping us to create new woods that will turn down the heat on global warming.

How deforestation and climate change link - Woodland Trust
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Plans for Port Royal: questions around the next stages for the Drill Hall

We are now entering the next stages for what will happen to the Drill Hall and possibly the wider context of Port Royal: the District Council have come up with a shortlist of three potential plans and are now in the process of conducting more in-depth interviews:
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal: Drill Hall bids to be considered

It is clear, however, that once a purchaser has been selected that a great deal of work will still have to be undergone before contracts are exchanged - because very little preparation has been carried out by the District Council for this sale:
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal: how to become 'preferred bidder' >>> score highest against a range of set criteria, which includes economic impact, design and regeneration potential

And the questions which were raised at the beginning of this process still remain largely unanswered:
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal: questions raised at full District Council meeting > and more questions
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal: questions raised at full District Council meeting > press reports

There are certainly questions over the original tender document which was sent out - and how much detail it contained - for example, the extent to which any future Beach Management Plan will impact on the Drill Hall site:
Futures Forum: Beach Management Plan: the official video

The District Council will be aware of the flood and erosion risk to the development site - but it is not clear to what extent any of the bidders were:
Futures Forum: Plans to “hold the line” on England's coastline – building defences to keep shores in their current position – are proving unaffordable
Futures Forum: "If Pennington Point goes another four or five metres, the River Sid will become the sea - and Sidmouth will be under water."

And any developer would pay less for a site that floods compared to one that does not, as flood defences would have to be built into the design of the development and would be one of the pre-commencement conditions:
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal and the Eastern Town >>> apartments over car parks

There are also rather grey areas around the ownership of the site:
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal: anticipating a Regeneration Board >>> of covenants and land-swapping at Port Royal
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal: who owns what
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal: 'further investigations in respect of flooding and covenants' needed

But of course, the Drill Hall site is part of the larger Port Royal site - and the District Council's own consultants had thought a development of the larger site might not be viable:
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal: 'the redundant Drill Hall site remains a more straightforward and viable opportunity for redevelopment and reuse'
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal: 'not seeking a mixed development for the overall site and ... marketing of the Drill Hall only'
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal: 'Council proposes to drop regeneration plans and sell the Drill Hall'
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal: anticipating a Regeneration Board >> Scoping Study consultants' "final report" published
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal: spending £10k on a report with 'a level of detail and analysis of the area which had been previously available' - simply to prove that redevelopment is not viable

The point being, that most would prefer the whole site to be tackled, rather than a piecemeal selling off - as MP Sir Hugo Swire's recent poll of Sidmouth businesses underlined:

Do you believe that the redevelopment of Port Royal and the adjacent area should be looked at as a whole rather than in smaller developments? Yes – 36 (85.7%) 

Futures Forum: How to revive the health of Sidmouth's high street >>> >>> East Devon MP's survey results
Futures Forum: Beach Management Plan: businesses oppose seawall and stakeholders demand clarity
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Sidford business park > "Campaigners say that there are broader reasons why the plan should have been refused" beyond "highway safety", including flood risk, visual impact, impact upon listed buildings, impact on the area of outstanding natural beauty, light and noise pollution and questions over the need for the business park.

Only one reason was stated by the planning authority for rejecting plans for an industrial estate at Sidford
Futures Forum: Sidford business park > Fords planning application >>> 18/1094/MOUT >>> REFUSED: but only on grounds of 'highway safety'

However, there were several other grounds on which it could  have been rejected: 

... that it should never have been included in the Local Plan the first place:
Futures Forum: Take the business park land at Sidford out of the Local Plan

... and that there are other, undeveloped sites for employment land:
Futures Forum: Sidford business park > Other sites are available

The latest news from the campaign against the plans is that preparations are being made for a possible appeal - and that the case against will include more than 'highway safety':
Futures Forum: Sidford business park >> campaign group's latest update > approaching any potential planning appeal  

The local media has picked this up, including the Herald:
Campaign group vows to be ready if Sidford Business Park appeal is lodged | Latest Sidmouth and Ottery News - Sidmouth Herald

And Devon Live, with further comment: 

Campaigners are fundraising in case Sidford business park refusal is appealed

East Devon District Council planners in October rejected plans to build industrial, storage and non-residential institutions on agricultural land to the east of Two Bridges Road in Sidford

Daniel Clark Local Democracy Reporter
12:15, 3 JAN 2019



Campaigners have begun fundraising in preparation for any appeal against the refusal of controversial plans for a new business park on the edge of Sidford.

East Devon District Council planners in October rejected plans to build industrial, storage and non-residential institutions on agricultural land to the east of Two Bridges Road in Sidford on the grounds of harm to highway safety, relating to increased heavy goods vehicle usage of the area’s narrow roads.

It was the second time that application has been refused by officers prior to even reaching the planning committee after a similar, but larger, scheme was rejected in 2016.

The applicants, Fords of Sidmouth, have until April 18 to lodge any appeal against the refusal, and the Say NO To Sidford Business Park Campaign have announced that if an appeal was submitted and it went to an inquiry, they would want to fully participate as a ‘Rule 6’ party as part of the process.

Campaigners are delighted that EDDC has said NO to Sidford Business Park (Image: Daniel Clark)

A spokesman said: “We have had to assume that without any evidence to the contrary, the applicants will at some point submit an appeal. We are therefore preparing ourselves should an appeal happen.”

As East Devon District Council refused the scheme solely on highways grounds, the extent of their defence is restricted to the highway not being suitable for the anticipated size and volume of traffic that the Business Park could be expected to generate.

But the Say NO To Sidford Business Park Campaigners say that there are broader reasons why the plan should have been refused, including flood risk, visual impact, impact upon listed buildings, impact on the area of outstanding natural beauty, light and noise pollution and questions over the need for the business park.

The narrow School Street in Sidford that HGVs would have to travel on to access the Sidford Business Park(Image: Daniel Clark)

The spokesman added: “We would want to become a formally registered party which could fully participate at an appeal. We believe that the District Council was wrong to only rely upon highways arguments for its refusal, hence the reason why we feel the need to be a party to any appeal hearing.”

They added that to do this effectively, they will need to employ a planning professional to make the arguments and to cross examine the applicants’ representatives and witnesses, and have begun identifying someone to do that and how much they would cost.

“We are having to assume that we will need to be professionally represented at an appeal if one is held,” they added. “That means that we have to think about how we might raise many thousands of pounds. One way will be to seek pledges of funds from our supporters.”

The current agricultural land that would have become Sidford Business Park (Image: Daniel Clark)

A fundraising ceilidh will be held at Sidford Hall on Saturday, February 23, with tickets costing £5, and the campaign added.

The applicants have not commented publically since the plans were refused by the council in October.

READ MORE
Planners refuse controversial Sidford Business Park scheme over 'potentially lethal' highways issues

When plans were submitted, they said that 250 new jobs would be created as part of the scheme and that the site’s development will secure a cycleway to the employment site.

A petition of 1,398 residents of the Sidford area and over 200 signatures from the wider area against the plans was collected.

Signs sprung up all around Sidford that were opposed to the Sidford Business Park plans (Image: Daniel Clark)

East Devon District Council when refusing the scheme said: “The site is allocated in the adopted East Devon Local Plan and is acceptable in principle, but the allocation is primarily for light industrial uses. The applicants included a significant amount of warehouse space in their application, which would be reliant on HGVs to deliver goods to the site and then distribute them from there.

“The numbers of HGVs combined with the narrow roads, both in the vicinity of the site and through Sidbury, would lead to conflict between vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians to the detriment of highway safety, and it was on this basis that the application was turned down.”

Campaigners are fundraising in case Sidford business park refusal is appealed - Devon Live

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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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Knowle relocation project: District Council "have not yet agreed anything" about developers using the public car park and meadow for 'storage space'

Fears have been expressed that the developer at Knowle will be able to make use of car parking and public parkland not previously agreed to:
Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project: How have PegasusLife been allowed to use the public car park and meadow for 'storage space' and what exactly does the promise of a 'bigger and better car park' once work is finished mean?

This was brought up at last week's full District Council meeting:

EAST DEVON DISTRICT COUNCIL Minutes of the Meeting of the Council held at Knowle, Sidmouth, on Wednesday, 12 December 2018

Public speaking
The Chairman welcomed those present and invited members of the public to address the Council.

Ed Dolphin wanted to take the opportunity of addressing the Full Council on the subject of Pegasus Life, the lower Car Park and parkland in Knowle Park, and the flood attenuation scheme. He wanted to express concern about a decision that would have a long term effect on the town of Sidmouth. 
He stated that the Pegasus Life’s Construction Phasing Strategy shows they could accommodate all the building works within the space they purchased. 
He pointed out that it had been suggested that without the extra storage space, large delivery vehicles might inconvenience residents by using Broadway and Knowle Drive which is not indicated in the Construction Phasing Strategy or Inspector’s conditions. 
He stated his belief that Pegasus’ plans will force Devon County Council to modify their planned flood alleviation scheme for Station Road which was bound to involve more cost and impact further on the park. 
He stated his understanding that Sidmouth Town Council has not debated building an extended car park on the ground and levying charges on it, for which they would have had to go through the proper planning process. He pointed out that such plans were a major event for the town and should be open to full scrutiny.

The Deputy Chief Executive responded by stating that East Devon District Council (EDDC) were aware of the concerns of Mr Dolphin and of the regard which Sidmouth Town Council has for the car park. EDDC have not yet agreed anything and are in discussion with the Town Council and County Council on the respective matters raised. Any extensions to the car park must go through the proper planning process and be included in the construction plan.

EAST DEVON DISTRICT COUNCIL Minutes of the Meeting of the Council held at Knowle, Sidmouth, on Wednesday, 12 December 2018 
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Knowle relocation project: How have PegasusLife been allowed to use the public car park and meadow for 'storage space' and what exactly does the promise of a 'bigger and better car park' once work is finished mean?

The Herald reported earlier in the month that developments at Knowle would mean a longer wait for a flood alleviation scheme for the town: 
Exclusive: Knowle car park discussions between EDDC and PegasusLife set to delay £750k flood plans | Latest Sidmouth and Ottery News - Sidmouth Herald

This is because the developer has said they'll need access to more surface area for their plant during demolition and construction on the site. But not everyone was happy with the decision:
Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project: developer's use of car park a ‘slap in the face’

However, PegasusLife's own Construction Phasing Strategy shows they were happy to complete the development without using the off-site car park and meadow:

3.2: Vehicle Movements within the Site:

3.2.4: The construction phasing does not have any significant bearing on both accesses to the site, nor on-site vehicle movements as the project progresses. The project should be able to accommodate safe access/egress and on-site movement throughout the programme of works.

The site has a clear delineation - as Phase One in the same document shows - which does not include the public car park used for park-and-walk or the meadows by the southern entrance:

Moreover, at point 8.7 in their Planning, design and access statement PegasusLife have clearly shown they have no intention of destroying the meadow because they want to because they want to work with the Arboretum to plant trees there:
Planning, design and access statement ... PegasusLife | Knowle Sidmouth | March 2016 

Meanwhile, the District Council's leadership has sought to reassure the town about any temporary loss of carparking - but it is not clear how Sidmouth will be getting a 'bigger and better' car park at Knowle - again, without building on the meadow land of the park:

Sidmouth to get ‘bigger and better’ car park after Knowle development, says council

PUBLISHED: 07:00 10 December 2018

Clarissa Place



Knowle council offices car park. Picture: Alex Walton

Sidmouth will have a ‘bigger and better’ town centre car park once works have finished at Knowle. Those are the words of district council bosses in response to a story the Herald ran last week regarding developers’ use of the lower car park as storage space during the construction of a to 113-home retirement community.

Fears were raised that a £759,000 flood prevention scheme, which protects town centre homes, would have to be postponed until works were finished - which could take up to three years. Concerns were raised for the impact on the town’s economy while the car park was temporarily shut.

East Devon District Council (EDDC) is in discussion with the developers PegasusLife and Sidmouth Town Council (STC) about the use of the ‘park and walk’ service if it was temporarily closed.

EDDC leader Councillor Ian Thomas said it was likely the authority will be letting the developer use the land as it would mean the town could get a bigger car park. He added that this meant it would keep construction vehicles away from ‘impractical routes’ and should not disrupt everyday traffic using Broadway and Knowle Drive.

Cllr Thomas said: “This will help alleviate congestion in the town and encourage more visitors to Sidmouth and to the Knowle Park itself. We appreciate that this will mean that the current car park which is available to the public at weekends will not be available during the construction period. However, that will mean a bigger and better public car park open every day in the future, which is what the town council wants for Sidmouth.”

Devon County Councillor Stuart Hughes he felt there was an all-round appreciation for what everyone was trying to achieve.

Cllr Hughes said: “This is excellent news and will be welcomed by all concerned especially those whose properties could have been inundated with flood water should there be a severe weather event. All going well, we should remain on schedule.”

County officers are now waiting for confirmation from the Environment Agency to secure the funding for flood works. EDDC has offered the remaining parkland to STC after works have finished to reinstate and extend the car park - making it an ‘even more important asset to the town’.

Sidmouth to get ‘bigger and better’ car park after Knowle development, says council | Latest Sidmouth and Ottery News - Sidmouth Herald
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Knowle relocation project: developer's use of car park a ‘slap in the face’

To reblog something from earlier in the year: 

One of the main concerns about the PegasusLife development at Knowle was that it would not take into account the flooding issues on the site:
Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project: and flooding
Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project: and '‘minimalist flood prevention measures’'
Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project: dealing with flood risk from over-development is 'not technically feasible'

Planning officers were not particularly bothered:
Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project: planning application to be considered by District Council: Tuesday 6th December >>> planning officers brush aside planning policies

However, the County council has been looking at how to alleviate the risks:
Flood investigations, reports and studies | Flood Risk Management
Plan to prevent £12million of flood damage in Sidmouth | Latest Sidmouth and Ottery News - Sidmouth Herald

And this will not only help the developer at Knowle - but will also mean they won't have to pay, as noted by the East Devon Watch blog:
New Knowle owners will benefit from £750,000 taxpayer-funded flood prevention scheme | East Devon Watch 

And so, flood attenuation measures were promised for Sidmouth:
Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project: County Council to spend £0.75m against flood risk

However, the very developers who will not have to pay for a possible increase in flood risk have asked for a postponement - as noted by the East Devon Watch blog:
Sidmouth flood defences delayed so PegasusLife can gobble up car parks and meadows to store building materials! | East Devon Watch

The Herald reports:

£750k flood scheme delayed and ‘up in the air’ following car park agreement

PUBLISHED: 12:35 28 November 2018 | UPDATED: 12:39 28 November 2018

Clarissa Place

Negotiations between EDDC and PegasusLife about taking over the lower car park and flower meadow for the developer's equipment while it turns the Knowle building into a retirement complex have raised concerns. Picture: Canva Simon Horn/PegasusLife/Ed Dolphin

A £750,000 scheme to protect hundreds of town-centre homes and businesses from flooding looks set to be delayed until the building of a controversial 113-home retirement community at Knowle is completed.

Set in delightful grounds, the headquarters of EDDC at Knowle. Photo by Simon Horn. Ref shs 7658-15-12SH. To order your copy of this photograph go to www.sidmouthherald.co.uk

The news comes after the district council agreed with developers PegasusLife to allow the use of the lower car park and nearby flower meadow for storage space during construction. It is not yet clear on what basis the council’s car park is being used.

The use of the lower car park would mean phase two of the £759,000 Sidmouth Surface Water Improvement Scheme will have to be redrawn as the proposed lagoon feature and above ground storage area are located adjacent to the car park.

Devon county councillor Stuart Hughes said officers will meet the district council on Thursday (November 29) to discuss options at the site. Cllr Hughes said: “After all the work that’s gone into getting the funding for the scheme, it will be delayed.

PegasusLife's plans for Knowle

“East Devon District Council [EDDC] has agreed to the storage equipment of PegasusLife for their construction and will not allow county to use this area until after construction is complete.

“Hopefully the officers will find out at the meeting which option they prefer and whether we can achieve the level of flood improvements we desire.

“I do hope that we can find an alternative for the lagoon SUDS system so that the 300 properties and businesses in the town will be protected from future flood events.”

An EDDC spokeswoman said the authority is in discussion with the partners involved.

In January, PegasusLife won an appeal to turn EDDC’s headquarters at Knowle into a large scale 113-home retirement community after its application was rejected in December 2016.

Campaigner Ed Dolphin has slammed the use of the car park as a ‘slap in the face’ and claims it is likely to be a blow to Sidmouth’s economy as it might affect the park and walk service into town.

Mr Dolphin said: “Many people objected to the Knowle development as a blight on the green corridor as visitors entered the town. This move will bring it to the forefront, right down to the roadside.

“Even worse, it seems that the developers need even more space and so they are to be given the flower meadow next to the car park as well, the one that was mown by mistake in the summer and which EDDC promised to care for in the future. The meadow is already waterlogged for the winter and storing building materials and machinery on it will probably ruin it for years.

“I do not see why PegasusLife need this extra space, their site has three large car park areas that could be used for storage at various times in the development.”

He called the park and walk car park in Station Road a ‘valuable asset’ as it reduced the strain on the town centre, was popular in the winter and boosted the town’s independent traders.

PegasusLife has been approached for a comment.

Exclusive: Knowle car park discussions between EDDC and PegasusLife set to delay £750k flood plans | Latest Sidmouth and Ottery News - Sidmouth Herald

See also:
Futures Forum: "Blundering council worker flattens Big Butterfly Count meadow" in the Knowle parkland > international coverage
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