North Yorks council bids to lead £7m coastal monitoring scheme

​​North Yorkshire Council bosses have unanimously voted to apply for the cash from the Environment Agency as part of a bid to continue leading the North East Regional Coastal Monitoring Programme into its next phase until 2033.

​​If successful, it will secure 100 per cent project funding of £7,147,000, plus £714,000 of contingency funding, which would fund research on the risks from coastal flooding and erosion, improve understanding of coastal process behaviour, and provide a holistic overview of coastal defences, responding to national and local priorities.

​Karl Battersby, NYC’s corporate director of environment, said: “Essentially, this is the coordination of the assessment and monitoring of our coastal environment that enables us to submit coordinated bids for capital funding going forward.

​“We coordinate this on behalf of a number of authorities in the North East and prior to government changes several years ago, local authorities used to do this work individually, but it’s now much better coordinated across the region.”

​Speaking at a meeting of the council’s executive committee on Tuesday, March 31, he added: “It’s a good news story for the council and continues the very good work of our teams to protect and monitor our coastline and coastal environment.”

​​The funds will be held and administered by the Environment Agency for the delivery of the fourth phase of the North East coastal monitoring programme, covering six years of data collection and analysis between 2027 and 2033.

​​It provides data, analysis and reports for the risk management authority partners, stretching along 300km of coastline from the Scottish Borders in the north to Flamborough Head in the south.

​​This includes Northumberland County Council, North Tyneside Council, South Tyneside Council, Durham County Council, Sunderland City Council, Hartlepool Borough Council and Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council. Assistance is also provided to the East Riding of Yorkshire Council, according to a report prepared for NYC’s executive committee.

​​As part of the North East Coastal Observatory and on behalf of the North East Coastal Group, North Yorkshire Council leads the North East Regional Coastal Monitoring Programme’s present phase from 2021-27.

​​The programme’s costs, including NYC officer time within the Northeast Coastal Observatory team, would be fully funded along with all survey and analysis activities, and no match funding would be required from NYC.

​​If successful, the grant will be claimed and drawn down from the Environment Agency on an annual basis, in line with current practise.

​A report for the meeting states that if the bid is unsuccessful, the council would need to consider internal funding for local monitoring activities along the North Yorkshire coast.

​​However, it adds that “this monitoring programme has been successful in attracting external funding since 2008”.

​​The Environment Agency’s Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management National Strategy sets out a vision for a nation that is “ready for, and resilient to, flooding and coastal change today, tomorrow and to the year 2100”.

​​The report adds: “One of the long-term ambitions is a nation ready to respond and adapt to flooding and coastal change.

​​“Long-term coastal monitoring and analysis undertaken by the national network of regional coastal monitoring programmes bolsters this, and coastal monitoring is identified as a high-priority activity by the Environment Agency.”