Cuckmere Estuary Partnership

Q: Who is paying for Hopkins Van Mil? What proportion of the cost is being paid for by each agency?

A: Hopkins Van Mil have been contracted to manage the public engagement events, and are being paid for the Cuckmere Estuary Partnership.

The costs are being shared amongst the Partners in the following proportions: Wealden District Council 10%; Environment Agency 15%; Natural England 11%; East Sussex County Council 15%, Seaford Town Council 1%; South Downs Joint Committee 15% and the National Trust 26%. The South East Coastal Group has also made a contribution of 7% towards the engagement process

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Q: Why waste time and money on the themed workshops? What has any of them to do with controlling or managing the flooding?

A: The three main consultation events were fully open and were intended to allow a wide range of voices to be heard, on a range of subjects related to the Estuary, in a neutral and independent forum.

Following these open meetings, we held themed workshops in order to focus on a range of particular topics all directly related to the future of the Cuckmere. These were intended to ensure that the consultation process captured the views of those with a very specific interest in the Estuary, in more detail than might have been possible at the general public events.

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Q: Climate change is real. We need to plan for long-term sustainable solutions.

A: Based on the best available evidence, the Cuckmere Estuary Partnership believes that climate change is a reality. 

We share the view that any options for the future of the Estuary should take a long term view. This is particularly important to allow the estuary to adapt to the likely impacts of climate change and if we want to be able to continue to enjoy the area into the future, without tying future generations into increasingly expensive options. Government policy is also to think and act long-term.

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Q: Have you surveyed visitors to Seven Sisters Country Park/Cuckmere Haven area to find out if tourism will be affected by creation of a natural estuary?

A: We would very much like to carry out such a survey, both at SSCP and in the wider area, to establish the effects of any potential change of management on the lower Cuckmere estuary on tourism.  However, such surveys must be carried out professionally to ensure they are effective, and this is very costly.  At present, the SDJC has reduced funding in the run up to the NP and simply does not have the resources to undertake such work.  Nonetheless, we will look at potential external/ partnership funding, possibly with local business and tourism providers, or student dissertations which may be used to produce such a survey

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Q: The water meadows at the north of A259 will not be sustained if salt water is allowed to ingress. Can sluices be introduced or repaired to prevent this?

A: The freshwater system north of the A259 is maintained by a sump under the Cuckmere and would not be affected by management practices south of the road.

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Q: Can silt from meanders be used to build up riverbanks?

A: Using silt to build up the river banks is a possibility. Ideas such as these will need to be assessed by technical experts to understand whether they are practically possible.

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Q: Given EA’s operations elsewhere, there will be plenty of intertidal marshes elsewhere, so what about the unique characteristics of the estuary at present that will be lost if it is allowed to flood?

A: Best available information is that saltmarshes in the UK are being lost to erosion at a rate of 100 hectares per year, with this being most pronounced in south east England. In addition to erosion, saltmarshes are also being lost through piecemeal land claim for industry, port facilities, transport infrastructure, waste disposal and marine developments, through changes in local sediment budgets and through the spread of non-native species. Coastal saltmarsh has been identified as a priority habitat under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan and is internationally important in its own right and for the communities it supports. As such, we have national and international obligations to offset these losses.

The majority of habitats that the estuary currently supports are not unique and are found in large quantities elsewhere in the local area, most notably upstream of the A259. If the estuary was allowed to flood, or rather if it was allowed to become intertidal again, the freshwater habitats that would be lost are already present elsewhere and some compensatory habitats could be created. The saltmarsh and mudflat habitats that are already present in small quantities in the estuary would spread and expand.

The current landscape of grassy field grazed by sheep would change if a naturally functioning estuary was allowed to become re-established. We know from measurements of land levels that large areas of saltmarsh would quickly develop, interspersed with areas of intertidal mudflat where the land is lowest (particularly in some areas of the western floodplain). As the land on the east side of the estuary is higher, and highest around the meanders, for the majority of the time, the landscape there would be largely unchanged – the meanders would be surrounded by vegetation. The creeks that are already visible across the estuary floor would become more visible. It is also worth noting that saltmarsh can be grazed.

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Q: What about the National Park Authority? Should we postpone making a decision (and ask the Environment Agency to postpone withdrawal of the flood defences) until after the NPA is in place and able to express its view?

A: The National Park Authority would not have affected the Environment Agency’s decision to withdraw flood maintenance, as the EA process followed official government (Defra) policy.

The South Downs National Park will be a material consideration in any activities likely to affect the landscape of this nationally designated area.  However, the area is already similarly protected, certainly in planning terms, with its current Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty national designation.  National Parks have two purposes: conserving natural beauty and promoting opportunities for understanding and enjoyment; if there is a conflict between the two, conservation takes precedence.  The National Park does not mean land is “nationalised”, so the views of the relevant landowners will be pre-eminent in any future Cuckmere Estuary planning.

The National Park Authority will effectively be a mini local authority; this is different to the current South Downs Joint Committee, which is, as the name states, a “joint committee” of the 15 local authorities across the area.  The timescale suggested by Defra is for the “shadow NPA” (i.e. its members to be in place) by April 2010, with the fully operational SDNPA by April 2011.  However, this organisation has to set up from scratch, so it will probably be some time before detailed operational matters are seriously on the agenda (i.e. it is unlikely that the SDNPA will take a view on the Cuckmere Estuary in April 2011). 

The National Park Authority will operate within its twin purposes, it will not take over the responsibility of other “authorities”, so the Environment Agency, the Local Highway Authority (ESCC) and others will still have their roles and responsibilities.  As such, the SDNPA will not take over the decision-making process for the Cuckmere Estuary; it will, however, be an important player, with a view very much shaped by its express purposes (which are broadly similar to the current South Downs Joint Committee).  There is one significant difference over the current arrangements, in that the SDNPA will be the planning authority for the area.  However, although it will eventually carry out strategic planning for the South Downs, one option being seriously considered is for the new SDNPA to delegate back to the local authorities the development control function.  This is for the SDNPA to decide, so the outcome of this will not be known before 2010 or 2011, hence the likelihood that the SDNPA will not be in a position to take a view on detailed local matters such as the Cuckmere Estuary early on.

The South Downs Joint Committee, though not the same as the future SDNPA, is the current vehicle for views on this nationally protected AONB/NP landscape.  The Joint Committee has set solid foundations for the protection, conservation and enhancement of the South Downs.

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Q: Have the Dutch been consulted about sea defences?

A: The Dutch Government’s policy for coastal defence differs greatly from UK’s, primarily because they face very different problems, with large proportions of their land lying below sea level. However, like many other countries, the Dutch have undertaken managed realignment in some areas. In considering the future management of the estuary, the Partnership is keen to learn from other projects both around the country and further afield.

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Q: What is the danger of mosquitos taking over?

A:  The existing conditions in the area are actually more likely to support successful breeding populations of mosquitoes than those that would occur in a naturally functioning estuary. At present, mosquitoes can breed in the standing water of the ditches and meanders. In a naturally functioning estuary, the mosquitoes would be far less likely to breed as the water bodies would be regularly flushed and they can’t breed in saline environments.

Of all the species of mosquitoes in this country, only one is known to be capable of carrying the malaria parasite. One species of mosquito did carry malaria in coastal areas of southeast England until 1918. However, this species will not breed in saltmarshes with full strength seawater. In the highly unlikely situation where breeding populations could survive in an intertidal estuary, the adults would first need to bite someone with malaria to pass it on.

People returning from the tropics with malaria feel very ill and almost always get treated quickly before the malaria parasites in their blood have reached the sexual stage which is the stage which can infect mosquitoes. Thus in countries with adequate health services, e.g. Italy, with much hotter climates than ours, malaria transmission has not been re-established since its eradication in the late 1940s, despite the presence of the potential vector mosquitoes and considerable numbers of cases of imported malaria in travellers from malarial countries.

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