How sustainable is the Holderness coast By Adam Hudson and Fergus channel

Holderness The Holderness coats is located in the north east of England and is one of the most prone to erosion in the entire country. This is why there are many government incentives to use management methods to protect this coastline as it has many features which are key assets to the British economy. The local governments use a cost benefit analysis to decide whether to use soft or hard engineering methods, this should provide economic sustainability for each project they invest in.

Mappleton In 1991 the decision was made to protect the town of Mappleton with a £2 million scheme using a variety of hard engineering methods. These were - placing rock armour along the base of the cliff and building two rock groins. The groynes prevent the movement of sediment along the beach from long shore drift and the rocks reflect the energy from the waves protecting the cliffs, which are no longer at risk

IS it sustainable Mappleton is an area that can attract a large number of tourists in the height of the tourist season. With attractions such as local museums and spurn point just up the coast as well as the beaches. This means the area has a lot of economical benefits which means protecting it would be economically sustainable. Also the mass of privately run relatively low yield businesses in the area mean it is socially sustainable as protecting these protect family run business that may not be economically viable if the experience survive damage. However building this sort of protection does increase erosion further down the coast which is not environmentally sustainable. With extensive evidence of sea level rise and climate change these areas may not survive future extreme erosion which they are now more susceptible to.

Hornsea These areas did not pass for hard engineering as the cost benefit analysis proved that is would cost more than the economic benefits felt. Therefore soft engineering techniques were used which are much cheaper and don’t need frequent repair like the hard engineering protection methods At Hornsea a beach nourishment project was set up. This is where extra sediment is put on the beach straight from the sea. This has two major benefits. Firstly it creates a larger beach which is a valuable ecosystem with a unique range of biodiversity. This is environmentally sustainable. Also it protects other areas further down the coast as more sediment is transported through long shore drift. This is both economically and environmentally sustainable as it provides protection in more than one place saving money and increasing protection.