Living on the Edge

LIVING ON THE EDGE: CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE ISLE OF WIGHT COAST

By Professor Robin McInnes OBE

Climate change is one of the most significant issues affecting modern society on the global scale. In the United Kingdom projections of climate change indicate hotter, drier summers and warmer wetter winters combined with an increase in the frequency of extreme weather events, such as heavy rainfall, storms, and heat waves.

Furthermore, sea level rise of between 1 metre and up to 2.5 metres has been predicted under medium to extreme scenarios. These predictions will have serious consequences for cities, communities, and infrastructure located close to the coast due to the impacts of flooding, cliff erosion, and coastal instability.

These adverse consequences of coastal hazards and climate change, at a local level, pose significant challenges for those involved in planning and risk management, and for affected communities and businesses, particularly in times of austerity. Escalating costs mean that it may not be possible to fund mitigation measures for the increasing numbers of coastal communities and infrastructure that is likely to become affected. The Isle of Wight has the longest coastline of any Coast Protection Authority in England and Wales. It is also one of the most diverse and beautiful coastlines in Great Britain – in the south it is elevated, wild and rugged, and on the Solent shores lush, generally low-lying and tranquil. The rocks are soft – chalk, sandstones, and clays, which are susceptible to marine erosion and the Island’s geological history poses significant coastal instability issues.

The Undercliff running for 12 kilometres along the Island’s southern coast is the largest urban landslide complex in north-western Europe. Surprisingly, coast protection is a discretionary local authority function and the process of obtaining government funding is complex and increasingly difficult. However, the Planning function is mandatory, and the Isle of Wight Council has a sound framework for coastal planning in place through its Draft Island Planning Strategy Development Plan. This is supported by the Isle of Wight Coast Shoreline Management Plan. The risks arising from coastal hazards on the Island are well understood and are founded on major studies commissioned by the government and Island Councils in the 1990s for the Undercliff, Luccombe and the Cowes to Gurnard coastal zone; understanding of landslide risk in particular was enhanced through three international conferences held here in 1991, 2002 and 2007. Management of coastal change is fundamental to successful planning on the Isle of Wight and the identification of Coastal Change Management Areas provides a mechanism for ensuring avoidance of inappropriate or potentially vulnerable coastal developments. A new international guide ‘Coastal Erosion and Climate Change – Guidance for Policymakers, Planners and Stakeholders’, prepared by Isle of Wight geologist and coastal scientist Professor Robin McInnes OBE of Coastal & Geotechnical Services and Professor Roger Moore of international consultancy Jacobs, has been published recently. It can be viewed or downloaded at www.coastalandgeotechnicalservices.com