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Human activities, coastline effects and coastal developments
Human activities, coastline effects and coastal developments
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The Success of Management Policies in Dealing with Coastal Erosion and Flooding
Roughly a quarter of the English coastline has been developed for
housing, industry or leisure purposes. At these sites coastal
management has been introduced to protect the coast from flooding and
coastal erosion. The particular area of coastline I studied in detail
is on the South-East coastline of England and includes various sites
along it. These include Camber sands, Dungeness and St Mary’s bay.
Authorities worked on a reactive basis, often ignoring natural
processes. They attempted to control the effects of erosion and
flooding, with little attention being paid to the implications of
individual schemes or other sections of the coastline. This often led
to the need for more protection works down-drift of original schemes,
increasing the costs of coastal defence. However attitudes to coastal
management have changed due to rising sea levels. Coastal managers now
work with the knowledge of sediment movement with defined cells.
In Romney marsh the area is flat and is a very marshy area which is
about 2-3m above sea level. The land is being used for pastoral and
arable farming. There is also a small number of houses there (small
villages) and a lot of drainage ditches surround the area and these
act as a protection as they hold the water and drain it back out. In
Romney marsh there is a lot of gravel extraction and a few other
materials have been extracted, however not much is being done to
protect the coastline at the moment. In Camber sands however it
transforms into a sand dune ecosystem where the beach acts as a
coastal defence and protects the surrounding area. This is because
when the wind blows it blows sand up the wide beach and this forms
sand dunes some of the highest dunes are 5m high. The land is used
mainly for the formation of sand dunes and it is a SSS’I (site of
special scientific interest). There are a few services around the area
which include pubs, bars, seasonal amusements and a golf course.