Hemsby not eligible for sea defence cash, says Anglian Water

A water company says it cannot yet help fund a coastal defence because the project has not been fully approved.

Hemsby, in Norfolk, does not meet the criteria of government funding formulas to pay for a £20m rock defence scheme.

The coastal village is set to lose another five houses after a section of the sandy cliffs collapsed in November.

Anglian Water said at a county council meeting in March it did contribute funds to protect assets, but was unable to invest in Hemsby at that time.

Councillor James Bensly asked Anglian Water at the March scrutiny committee meeting if it would contribute towards defences which would protect its sewer on Fakes Road.

The company said it already funded defences elsewhere in its region.

Jonathan Glarum, Anglian Water flood risk manager, said: "We already co-fund some work to protect the coastline because there is a benefit to our assets behind there.

"We also do some stuff up in Heacham where they do beach nourishment work because we've got assets that are being protected by that and we've done similar things down in Essex as well and we've got lots of experience of doing this type of thing."

Anglian Water said it had 7,000 assets at risk of flooding and its biggest risks were on the East Coast where a surge or erosion could cause problems.

"Where we look to work in partnership with others we've got to demonstrate that benefit," Mr Glarum added.

"Clearly we've got a fast eroding coast, it's relatively easy to do that but we have to be able to demonstrate that because it comes back to our regulator making sure we are making good use of that money, which is ultimately our customers money.

"But if we can show that, and we can show there's a benefit in that our assets are protected, absolutely we will do that."

However, it was revealed in October that Hemsby was not eligible for government funding for coastal defences, stalling the £20m project.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Anglian Water said: "It's a requirement from our regulator that we can only offer partnership funding on an approved project, and unfortunately the project at Hemsby is not as this stage.

"However, we work very closely with Coastal Partnership East and we are committed to continue exploring how we could co-fund work to protect the coastline and our assets in the years to come."

Coastal Partnership East - which brings together specialists from Great Yarmouth Borough, North Norfolk District and East Suffolk councils - said it had been working with the company since 2017.

Karen Thomas, who heads the organisation, said: "We work with them across the whole coast to look for opportunities for them to invest in our projects.

"One of the difficulties we have though is, ultimately, the amount of money Anglian Water might have available compared to the cost of this project is relatively small.

"It's true that Anglian Water normally invest in projects that are shovel ready, so for them to commit to this project we would need to have raised almost £20m."

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