Hythe flooding
One of the issues affecting the Hythe flooding (County Standard 2 January) which no-one seems to be talking about is that since the Port of Colchester officially closed in 2001 UK sea-level has been rising 3mm a year. In North Essex the land has also been sinking at around 1mm a year due to what geologists call ‘isostatic readjustment’. So, relative sea-level in Colchester is now around 10cm higher than it was 25 years ago.
One of the problems this creates at the Hythe is “tide-locking” – where the incoming tidal water prevents the freshwater in the river from escaping downstream.
The mid-range projections from the UK’s Climate Change Committee suggest UK sea-levels will rise by a further 25-35cm over the next 25 years. So, the situation at the Hythe will get significantly worse unless urgent action is taken.
I would suggest two things are needed – first, the height of sea-defence walls needs to be raised.
Secondly, rainfall runoff from the land, which will increase with new housing developments, needs to be properly managed to ensure it doesn’t all get into the river at the same time. Similar issues have long been dealt with very successfully in low-lying rural areas such as Suffolk and Norfolk through the use of sluice-gates operated by internal drainage boards. These are small low-cost organisations funded by stakeholders, including landowners and the local council.
For the last year and half I have been urging the leadership of Colchester City Council to focus on tackling the LOCAL impacts of climate change including sea-level rise. Regrettably, the repeated response of the council’s current Lib-Dem/Labour leadership is that they wish to focus instead on global climate change.
As Conservatives we disagree and believe the priority for a local council should ALWAYS be the local area.
Dr Martin Parsons
Councillor for Mersea and Pyefleet (Cons) and
Conservative spokesman on sustainability
One of the issues affecting the Hythe flooding (County Standard 2 January) which no-one seems to be talking about is that since the Port of Colchester officially closed in 2001 UK sea-level has been rising 3mm a year. In North Essex the land has also been sinking at around 1mm a year due to what geologists call ‘isostatic readjustment’. So, relative sea-level in Colchester is now around 10cm higher than it was 25 years ago.
One of the problems this creates at the Hythe is “tide-locking” – where the incoming tidal water prevents the freshwater in the river from escaping downstream.
The mid-range projections from the UK’s Climate Change Committee suggest UK sea-levels will rise by a further 25-35cm over the next 25 years. So, the situation at the Hythe will get significantly worse unless urgent action is taken.
I would suggest two things are needed – first, the height of sea-defence walls needs to be raised.
Secondly, rainfall runoff from the land, which will increase with new housing developments, needs to be properly managed to ensure it doesn’t all get into the river at the same time. Similar issues have long been dealt with very successfully in low-lying rural areas such as Suffolk and Norfolk through the use of sluice-gates operated by internal drainage boards. These are small low-cost organisations funded by stakeholders, including landowners and the local council.
For the last year and half I have been urging the leadership of Colchester City Council to focus on tackling the LOCAL impacts of climate change including sea-level rise. Regrettably, the repeated response of the council’s current Lib-Dem/Labour leadership is that they wish to focus instead on global climate change.
As Conservatives we disagree and believe the priority for a local council should ALWAYS be the local area.
Dr Martin Parsons
Councillor for Mersea and Pyefleet (Cons) and
Conservative spokesman on sustainability
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