'Sandscaping saved our village from the sea'

Pauline Porter says sandscaping has transformed the fortunes of people living in Walcott on the Norfolk coast

Six years since a pioneering coastal defence project was implemented on the Norfolk coast, local people say their lives have been transformed with improvements to mental health, tourism and property prices.

The £19m sandscaping project was designed to stop Bacton gas terminal from falling into the sea.

Enough sand to half-fill Wembley Stadium was dredged and pumped ashore to rebuild the beach.

A new study has found it has already prevented £3m of flood damage in the villages of Bacton and Walcott.

The sandscaping project covers three miles of coast from Bacton to Walcott

'The wind ruled our lives'

In 2018, the future of the village of Walcott hung in the balance. With no beach left because of coastal erosion it was at risk of being swept away by the sea.

Pauline Porter, chair of the parish council, says people left the village after 70 properties were damaged during a storm and tidal surge in December 2013.

"The wind ruled our lives. If there were high tides you stayed close to the village in case your needed to rescue your pets or valuables. It was a way of life.

"There was no beach. You had a good drop of 12 to 14ft most of the time and as fast as the steps were made longer to reach the beach, the faster the beach disappeared.

"We used to have three to five flood evacuations a year, but since sandscaping we haven't had one.

"Had it not been for sandscaping the village would have been lost under the sea."

Millions of tonnes of sand were pumped ashore in 2019 to rebuild the beach

In 2019, two million cubic metres of sand were dredged and pumped ashore to raise beach levels by up to seven metres.

The £19m project was mainly funded by the owners of Bacton gas terminal, which handles a third of the UK's natural gas supplies, with £5m coming from public funds.

The sandscaping project has a 15 to 20 year design life. Six years on, the sand has moved up and down the coast as well as offshore, creating a small bar that dissipates the energy of the waves.

'I feared for the business'

Graham French says he no longer worries about the future of his seaside cafe

For years the Kingfisher Cafe could not get flood insurance. Since the sandscaping it can once again.

Owner Graham French says he used to wonder if he was going to lose the business.

"If it had not been for the gas terminal we would not have benefitted from the sandscaping scheme.

"We now feel we can invest in the business and customers have been coming back."

'£3 million of flood damage prevented'

A draft report prepared for the Crown Estate has found that between 2019 and 2023 the sandscaping has prevented serious flooding in the villages on at least one occasion, saving £3m in damage to properties.

It also concluded that it is likely to have prevented erosion of the B1159, the main access road to the gas terminal.

A survey of residents carried out by the University of East Anglia found mental health and investor confidence in the area had improved.

Japp Flikweert is the coastal engineer who designed the sandscaping project

The project's designer says it has bought time.

Jaap Flikweert from Royal HaskoningDHV says beaches from Mundesley to Happisburgh have built up more than they thought.

"We expected the bulge of sand would erode quite rapidly but it has also moved elsewhere."

He says the study for the Crown Estate has also put a value on the savings to the nation due to people not being out of work or needing to use the NHS services for poor mental health.

"In just a few years we estimate it has brought another £3-4m of benefit. It is really good to see that the scheme does its job."

'Nature-based solutions'

Rob Goodliffe is coastal transition manager at North Norfolk District Council

The man who co-ordinated the project says it is not a solution for all communities fighting coastal erosion.

Rob Goodliffe, who is coastal transition manager at North Norfolk District Council, says it has demonstrated the benefits of nature-based solutions to sea level rise.

"Any scheme has to stack up economically but you cannot necessarily pick this up and drop it into another area."

The owners of Bacton gas terminal were approached by the BBC but declined to comment.