Have your say on new coastal resort plans for Hunstanton

People living in Hunstanton are being invited to have their say on a new coastal management plan for the resort.

The coastal management plan, which is budgeted to cost £80,000, intends to reduce the risks of flooding and coastal erosion in the seaside town.

It focuses on finding the best ways of maintaining the protection provided by the promenade and its defences and reducing cliff erosion.

The project is being led by West Norfolk Council, which has contributed £20,000 of the funding for the work.

The remaining money, around £60,000, has been donated by the Regional Flood and Coastal Committee’s local levy.

Officials have released a survey inviting residents to have their say on these plans and are welcoming them to attend their drop-in event later this month.

West Norfolk Council’s cabinet member for environment, Ian Devereux, said: “We’ve made the report and the online survey about the Hunstanton Coastal Management Plan available now, and I’d like to invite everyone to share their views on the long list of options by completing this short survey.

“Or you can come along to our drop-in event and ask any questions you might have, and chat to us in person. Once we’ve reduced the options to a short list, they’ll be published and we’ll be asking for your feedback again”.

The survey includes 15 options on ways to reduce cliff erosion including installing netting to the base of the cliff, creating a seawall, relocating key assets and doing nothing.

It also highlights 19 options on what could be done to protect Hunstanton’s promenade and sea defences, asking residents to submit their top seven in order of preference.

The scheme also includes representatives of Hunstanton Town Council, the parish councils of Snettisham and Heacham, Norfolk County Council, the Environment Agency and Natural England.

Other groups involved in this project are the town’s Civic Society, the Chamber of Trade, the National Farmers’ Union, residents’ groups and the East Wash Coastal Management Community Interest Company, which was set up to manage efforts to protect the coast following the tidal surge of December 2013.

Officials are inviting residents to have their say on these plans on west-norfolk.gov.uk/hunstantoncoastalmanagementplan. They are also welcoming them to attend a consultation event at Hunstanton Town Hall on Tuesday, February 27, from 2pm to 5pm.