To what extent do the coastal management approaches at Minehead and Porlock Bay impact on people?

1. To what extent do the coastal management approaches at Minehead and Porlock Bay impact on people?

2. Aims • The aim is to answer the title question and cutting it down into : • What coastal management strategies are used in Minehead and Porlock? - First we have to find out what strategies are used before finding out their impact • What is the coast used for at Minehead and Porlock? – We want to see what people use the coast for, so we can understand what would affect people according to the use of the coast itself • What impact does the coastal management at Minehead and Porlock have on people? – just going back to the question, and concluding the other points that have been made + do the people agree with the government.

3. LOCATION EXPLANATION • Somerset coastline – particularly focusing on Minehead and Porlock (and the particular differences between them) - Minehead is sparsely populated in some areas, while densely populated in pinpoints. Minehead has a coastal resort (‘Butlins’) which adds a lot economical value, and makes it a very populated area • (Wikipedia, GIS maps, and BBC video on coastal management)

4. MINEHEAD Densely Populated Pinpoints ( ) Sparsely Populated areas (no major settlements ( )

5. Minehead • Population : 10,330 • Medium sized, seaside town, which makes most of it’s most economical profit from tourism • The government has invested more in Minehead’s coastal defence units than in Porlock due to flood risk and economical loss if flooded • Minehead main coastal defences are rock armour, revetments, rock armour groynes, beach nourishment, and a curved sea wall (Wikipedia)

6. PORLOCK Densely Populated Pinpoints ( ) Sparsely Populated areas (no major settlements ( )

7. Porlock • Population : 1,377 • Small sea side town, mainly consisting of small houses, and small shops • The government has in the past invested to ‘hold the line’ in Porlock, but recently has stopped because there was ‘no intervention • Porlock’s main coastal defences are worn down wooden groynes, shingle, salt marshes and a sea wall (Wikipedia)

8. 2. Where is Somerset ?? 1. (1.) 4hotels.co.uk (2.) freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com5

9. Why Somerset ?? I chose Somerset over Lincolnshire, even though the Lincolnshire coast is 15 minutes away from our school (St. James, Grimsby). I chose it because it would be a more memorable experience, and it would be great to explore a new part of the UK

10. Methodology

11. Worn down wooden groynes Sea Wall Salt Marsh Porlock Port Shingle

12. Rock armour groyne Port Rock armour Revetments Sea wall Beach nourishment Beach nourishment Minehead

13. Low levels of shingle, so ground is low (because of groynes – this makes the ground behind it more vulnerable to flooding Worn down wooden groynes – poor aesthetic value, even though effective. Build up shingle on one side (due to LSD), while leaving it clear on the other side for the harbour (obviously important otherwise they would get rid of the groynes because of their aesthetics) Areas which have been flooded recently Harbour Porlock

14. Apartment bloc – (old building) – might want it there for tourism, to make the town seem historic and interesting Rock armour and shingle to protect the sea wall and bay area Minehead Curved sea wall – more effective than straight but also a lot more expensive than Porlock’s wall (shows the governments interest in Minehead Beach nourishment – make it look natural, whilst helping the coastline

15. Data presentation These are our own bipolar results for Minehead and Porlock These graphs show that Minehead has more resources, with higher scores, compared to Porlock. This is probably due to the government investing in Minehead, because of its economical value (Tourists, Butlins, Shops, etc.) Porlock’s resources seem to be worn down, and there aren’t as many as of them as in Minehead. This likely to be because the government has stopped renewing the coastal defence techniques due to there being a low flood risk (see next slide)

16. The darker the colour and the higher the stack, the more at risk the polygon area is. This graph shows that Minehead has a much higher risk of flooding than Porlock. Secondary data also shows that it has a lot of economical value, which gives the government a better reason to protect Minehead using Coastal Management techniques. Porlock may not have a high economical value, but it seems many people there are extensively affected by the flooding issues due to the coastal management schemes being abandoned, and say that you can’t give history and beautiful countryside a price/value (found in questionnaire and discussions had with the local people of Porlock)

17. Does coastal management affect your use of the coast? Analysis This graph shows the results which we got from the question – ‘Does coastal management affect your use of the coast?’ used in our questionnaire. The majority of the people who took part in the survey said ‘No’ in both Minehead and Porlock, which would automatically make you think that coastal management doesn’t affect many people, but the question says ‘...your use of the coast?’. This made me think that people just don’t use the coast very often, or even not at all. Maybe this is because they just don’t need to go, or they might not enjoy it, but what if there are so many negatives about the coastal management techniques, that they just don’t find it pleasant to go any more (e.g. Poor aesthetics, not easy enough to access, etc.) which could leave the government with the question : ‘Is it worth it?’.......

18. What is the effect of coastal management on you? Analysis The Minehead graph shows more positives than negatives, which is probably due to the defences saving so many businesses (working in the tourist industry) which were at high risk of flooding. Interestingly, in both cases, the highest voted answer was ‘Neutral’ which could mean that people just don’t care about the coastline, which would mean the government is spending thousands of pounds on making the coastal management techniques look good, whilst it’s really just a waste of money

19. Porlock This graph shows which coastal management resources best suit each category (result from bipolar) – And whether they’re best suited to certain conditions overall. Sea wall : best for flooding, but access is limited and there is a lot of disturbance when building – The sea wall in Porlock is only there for some protection against floods Wooden groyne : it’s got an average score; not a lot of disturbance when building and easy access to the beach, but not protective against flooding or safety – what it is designed to do in Porlock, is to keep the harbour clear from any shingle caused by LSD. This does cause and issue because on the other side of the groyne, the ground is low, making it more vulnerable to flooding, impacting every one in the area. Salt marsh : best for access, safety, no major disturbance when building, and it won’t stop a flood, but it will slow it down considerably – there is a major impact now though in Porlock, where before, farmers used the salt marsh as farmland and for animals to graze, but now they have now lost that, and they can’t reuse it, impacting many. This will also lose money in Porlock’s economy, and discourage the government to invest in coastal management resources.

20. Reference slide 11, 12, 13 and 14 Conclusion What coastal management strategies are used in Minehead and Porlock? Minehead – ‘Hold the line’ using curved sea wall, beach nourishment, rock armour, rock armour groynes and revetments Porlock – used to ‘Hold the line’ + but now ‘Do nothing’ using wooden groynes, straight sea wall, shingle, and a salt marsh

21. Reference to slide 5, 7, 11, 12, 13 and 14 Conclusion What is the coast used for at Minehead and Porlock Minehead – Large tourism industry (mainly Butlins, who have also invested in the curved sea wall) generally for people to use (population = 10,330), medium sized harbour (2-3x the size of Porlock) Porlock – Small tourism industry, generally for people to use (population = 1,377), small harbour (about the size of 3 tennis courts)

22. Referring to slide 18 Conclusion What impact does the coastal management at Minehead and Porlock have on people? Minehead – (mainly positive/neutral) – saves many peoples businesses, houses and money. They can just keep doing what they want to do everyday without having to worry to much about flooding. Porlock – (mainly neutral) – personally, I think we got an unrealistic result. From what I have seen and heard, I could easily imagine the result being negative. Peoples houses and businesses get flooded every year costing a lot of money and affecting the tourism in the area, which doesn’t help their economy.... The flood defences have bad aesthetics which makes the area look worn down and ‘shabby’, which will also affect tourism. And the general ‘you’re not worth anything’ attitude they get from the government because they’re economy isn’t large enough, even though they have other strong points like lovely people, nice countryside, and great wildlife.

23. Sum up To what extent do the coastal management approaches at Minehead and Porlock Bay impact on people? In both Minehead and Porlock, coastal management has a huge impact on people, whether positive or negative. In Porlock, the negative impact is that many houses and businesses get flooded due to ‘bad’ coastal management, where the government has stopped funding for different techniques. But the positive impact is that the sea wall, for example, stops a minor flood. So the coastal management techniques are not ideal, but they save the coast to some extent, making the people, unhappy about what’s happening, but it’s better than nothing In Minehead, coastal management seems to just be positive. A few people are unhappy about the aesthetics, but generally everybody is happy. It seems that the coastal management there is very effective, and the government has made a good choice to invest there, saving hundreds of businesses So generally, throughout our investigation, I have realised that the extent coastal management has in people is huge, and will definitely affect the choices the government makes in the future