Review *** (29/07/2018 00:37)
Initial Analysis Feedback from BLUECoast Project
Four members of the BLUECoast project team working on the analysis of the LIDAR monitoring over the winter period came to RSPB Minsmere on Thursday 26th July to give their initial feedback. Eventually reaction of the beach profile to sediment transport across approximately 4km of Minsmere/Dunwich beach centred at Coastguards Cottages will enable the team to look at where the most vulnerable points are as far as coastal erosion ...and potential breaches during surge events. Further work needs to be done and the team is awaiting some tidal height information for this local area, otherwise the team would have to use data from Lowestoft which will introduce an element of inaccuracy in this baseline data. We were presented with data regarding the history of sediment and peat deposition alongside the Minsmere New Cut which showed layers going back ~6500 years. Data for Sizewell Marsh is also available although was not presented at the meeting. One presentation simulated a permanent breach at the sluice and predictions for the development of saline creeks into the Minsmere Levels based on a variety of scenarios of fresh water recharge and the effect of expected rainfall in the area. This work was still in early development and showed promise as a tool for both prediction and management of the progression of such a development. RSPB Minsmere has ~100 sluice controls within its controlled area and it is possible these could be incorporated into the model for creek development where their GPS coordinates are known. A further meeting is expected later in 2018 to give an update to the group
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Review *** (28/07/2018 23:36)
BLUECoast monitoring station at Dunwich Coastguards Cottages
Researchers from the University of Liverpool, Plymouth University, British Geological Survey and Marlan Maritime Technologies Ltd. are undertaking a programme of monitoring to investigate the storm response and recovery behaviour of the Minsmere coastline as part of the NERC-funded BLUEcoast project. This involves the installation of instruments on the beach to measure the velocity, energy and run-up of waves, and ...detailed beach surveying to determine the loss and recovery of sediment between tides. The monitoring also includes the novel application of marine radar to measuring wave height and direction and changes to the shoreline that can be inferred from where the waves break. The principles of this ‘waterline’ method was first established by Admiral Sir R.H. Bacon during WWI. Essentially, the ‘Rapidar’ is used in combination with online data from the Cefas Wavenet and the National Tide and Sea Level Facility websites to remotely track wave behaviour and beach erosion during winter storms.
Further computer modelling work being undertaken by Liverpool on the BLUEcoast project aims to examine the sensitivity of Minsmere water levels to climate change and the vulnerability of the beach to sea-level rise. For more details on the BLUEcoast project, please go to: http://projects.noc.ac.uk/bluecoast/
Andy Plater, University of Liverpool.
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Review *** (09/11/2018 17:14)
EDF’s Sizewell C Project Alert Since our last update on meetings with EDF regarding Sizewell C&D coastal issues and inland hydrology, we have been preparing for the next stage of consultation that is likely to start in January 2019. We are still concerned with the incomplete assessment of potential changes to the inland hydrology within both Sizewell Marsh and Minsmere Levels and potential effects to the Minsmere Sluice. We are due to meet again with the BLUECoast project in ...December to have an update on their shoreline monitoring results, although a final date is yet to be confirmed. We have used the intervening time to prepare an impact poster based on EDF’s Stage 2 documentation that shows where the construction site and platform will impact upon the area between Sizewell Marshes SSSI and Minsmere & Walberswick SSSI, which also hosts the RSPB Minsmere Nature Reserve. The land that is to be used to host the construction site is mostly within Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) with a small part being within the local Special Protection Area. For the 10-12 years of the build, the AONB will be severed in two with no direct wildlife corridor from south to north. Once the construction phase has completed and the land turned over to develop lowland heath habitat, it will be many more years before the site will be properly naturalised and work as an effective wildlife corridor. The poster can be viewed on our website at; http://minsmerelevelsstakeholdersgroup.on esuffolk.net/…/si…/ or at the following locations; • Eel’s Foot Inn, Eastbridge • Middleton Farm shop, Middleton • The Bell, Middleton • The Lion, Theberton • The White Horse, Westleton EDF ENERGY IS EXPECTED TO LAUNCH THEIR THIRD AND FINAL PUBLIC CONSULTATION STAGE IN THE EARLY WEEKS OF JANUARY 2019. The Stage 3 Consultation will be the FINAL OPPORTUNITY for comments and responses from the public until the inquiry by the Planning Inspectorate that EDF expects to occur 12 to 18 months following the end of the Stage 3 Consultation. The Planning Inspectorate inquiry is a very formal process at which opportunities for community engagement will be much more limited. As a result, it is ESSENTIAL to ensure that EDF receive a robust, informed and wide ranging public response to their Stage 3 consultation. We will send out a further newsletter early on in the consultation, once we have had good time to review the proposals and supporting impact information that has been so lacking in the previous two consultations. We hope that this will assist you in preparing your own informed response. We continue to work with Theberton and Eastbridge Action Group on Sizewell (TEAGS) www.teags.org and will participate and contribute to their efforts leading up to, during and after the consultation period. Paul Collins, Co-secretary John Rea Price, Co-secretary http://minsmerelevelsstakeholdersgroup.on esuffolk.net/ https://www.facebook.com/MinsmereLevels See More