England's East Coast NAZE PROTECTION SOCIETY - AGM 2007
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England's East Coast NAZE PROTECTION SOCIETY - AGM 2007
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Annual General Meeting - Tuesday 7th August, 2007 @ 7.00pm.
[The picture above shows the Naze in an easterly gale]
PRESENT: David Gager ( Chairman )
Terry Lawrence ( Treasurer)
John Willis-Taplin, Gladys Firminger,
Michelle Nye-Browne, David Eagle, Joan Bunting
APOLOGIES: David Joshua, Jan Dunning, Terry Dunning.
WELCOME: David Gager Chairman welcomed all present and the meeting opened at 7.10 pm.
MINUTES OF AGM 2006: Terry Lawrence, Treasurer, read the minutes of last year’s AGM. These were agreed a true record of the meeting.
CHAIRMAN'S REPORT: read by David – ( see section 2 below. )
There were no matters arising.
TREASURER'S REPORT: read by Terry - text as follows:
Once again I am pleased to report that it has been an excellent year for the Society both in terms of Income and overall surplus generated.
Income this year was £32277 and after expenditure of £4236 the overall surplus amounted to £28,041.
The shop continues to prosper and this year recorded record sales of £23,216.
In the past five years income from the shop has exceeded £102,000.
Our thanks go to Jan & Terry for all the hard work that they and their volunteer helpers put in.
Total funds as at year end 30th April 2007 stood at £174,953.
Annual interest on our funds is now in excess of £7,000 per annum.
We have £150,000 invested in the Birmingham Midshires Building Society in their special CAF Fixed Rate Selector Account at 5.58%.
Expenditure for the year was up by £1400 mainly due to a sum of £527 spent on shop flooring and an increase in printing and stationery of £800.
Other items of expenditure have remained very much the same as in previous years.
We are actively seeking major sponsorship from bodies such as the Heritage Lottery Fund and we hope that our recent liaison with the Essex Wildlife Trust will help in our efforts to not only get the Crag Walk scheme approved but lead to an enhanced profile with potential lenders.
My thanks go to Chairman David Gager and all the Committee for their support during the year also Gladys Firminger for handling the day to day cash and banking in what has been an extremely difficult year for her.
Finally my thanks go to Martin Kennedy our Accountants for once again auditing the Society’s accounts at a very nominal cost.
Terry Lawrence
Hon Treasurer & Trustee
( Copies of the Statement of Income & Expenditure for the year ended 30th April 2007 had been distributed - see LINK 3 below )
ELECTION OF OFFICERS: After discussion it was agreed that the Officers and Committee be elected en-bloc. This was proposed by Brian Meadows and seconded by Sid Wells and carried unanimously.
Officers and Committee for 2007 –2008 are as follows :
David Gager ( Chairman ) Terry Lawrence ( Treasurer )
David Eagle, David Joshua, Gladys Firminger, John Willis-Taplin, Michelle Nye-Browne, Joan Bunting, Jan Dunning, - all General Committee Members.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS: None
The meeting was followed by a presentation on the Crag Walk Project by Michelle Nye-Browne.
A question and answer session followed.
Meeting closed at 8.15 pm.
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2. Chairman's Annual Report 2007 & CRAG WALK Heritage Project Executive Summary
CHAIRMAN'S ANNUAL REPORT 2007
The Society is a charity trust with terms of reference agreed with the Charity Commissioners to create awareness of, and preserve, the Naze, and hence the Walton backwaters and town it protects. The following report describes what the Society has achieved to this end in the last year.
NAZE PROTECTION (Campaign: LINK 1 below)
We have made faltering progress this year towards the realisation of the Crag Walk project. The project was presented to the TDC cabinet earlier in the year and they approved TDC’s continued involvement. However, the subsequent District election produced new Port Folio holders and therefore there is the need to now gain their approval. There is a concern that as with the Three Hard Point scheme proposed some years ago that TDC might find a reason to withdraw their support at any time after significant time and effort has been expended.
During the year a small sub-committee of the Society has been formed to drive the Crag Walk project through. They have found that to secure any grant funds demands producing vast amounts of support documentation that the Society does not have the time or expertise to do. More importantly, it has become clear that to succeed the project needs to be clearly shown as much more than a mere sea defence. Everybody believes this is a Government responsibility but throughout many years of campaigning the Government and Councils have stood fast and refused to finance coastal defence unless there is a straightforward financial case for doing so. As a result of the need to show Crag Walk as part of a greater plan for the development and regeneration of the Naze, the Society is in the process of including the Essex Wildlife Trust (EWT) as partners for the project alongside TDC. EWT have significant experience in other parts of Essex in similar schemes to fund the regeneration of natural environments. With their help and partnership, it is hoped to make faster progress to achieve our goal.
FUND RAISING
The successful ‘Save the Naze’ shop continues to provide an income of around £20,000 a year thanks to the voluntary management of the shop by a member of the committee and her band of loyal helpers. Also thanks to the many people who provide the supply for the shop.
In addition this year the Society has started having Boot Sales on the Martello camp, courtesy of the owners. This is showing a good income thanks to the long hours put in by two members of the committee.
A presentation to Heritage Lottery was well received but they require that Crag Walk is demonstrated to be part of the wider regeneration of the site. The maximum grant we can expect from them has been reduced from £1M to £500K and therefore future funding is required to meet a target of £1M that is likely to be the final requirement. By the end of the fiscal year the Society’s fund raising will hopefully have exceeded £200,000 in less than 10 years - a great achievement by so few.
AWARENESS
A prospectus of the Crag Walk project containing a full description of project and it many benefits to the community has been produced by a committee member and used to solicit support and funding.
The Society’s website is still proving very popular with many hundreds of hits per week. It contains a wealth of information including publication of all the Newsletters (see LINK 2 below) and important documents such as the Executive Summary of the Crag Walk Project (reprinted below).
The Society continues to gain mention and support in the press and has appeared on National television.
Our Erosion Information Pack continues in popularity particularly with school children and students of geography and geology. We are well into our second batch of 1000 copies.
The Society continues to play its part in the community and participates in local events such as the Walton carnival whenever possible.
ORGANISATION
In January Joy Otter died. She was considered by most to be the founder of the current Naze Protection Society and was of late its President. She will not be forgotten and should have some form of recognition displayed on the Naze when a suitable situation arises.
The Society Trustees met once and the main Committee approximately every 6 weeks since the last AGM in August 2006. In addition the Crag Walk sub-committee has met many times as occasion demanded. Our thanks must go to the committee without whose enthusiasm, support and active service the Society would be benign.
During the year we had to accept the resignation of John Titchmarsh who has been a strong supporter for many years but now resides in the Isle of Man and feels he can no longer make a positive contribution to the committee. We sadly received the sudden resignation of Paul and Mary Sheard from the committee, which was a huge blow as Paul played a major role as Secretary, website creator, publicity manager, and general creator of Society publications. We urgently need a new Secretary!
FUTURE PLANS
Our continuing objectives remain: -
A. To be ready with funds to support projects to save and preserve the Naze.
B. Demonstrate the desire of the public to preserve the Naze for future generations.
C. Provide leverage for the Society to influence events pertaining to the Naze.
In the short term we shall be hopefully be welcoming EWT as partners, getting the approval for Crag Walk from the new TDC cabinet, obtaining planning permission and submitting grant aid proposals.
In the longer term the Society alongside EWT will look in more detail at the regeneration and development of all aspects of the Naze.
Continue the programme of publications and use of the Internet to inform the public of the Naze issues and to provide suitable material to assist school children and college students in their studies.
Continue to make a positive contribution to the betterment of the community.
David Gager
7/8/2007
CRAG WALK - EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Background:
In 1997 the Naze Protection Society reformed as a charitable trust with the general aim of protecting the Naze from diminishing through the effects of erosion. The wording used in the constitutional document is: “to stimulate awareness”, referring to both features of historical interest upon the Naze itself and to the safety of surrounding communities and nature reserves. There is a recognition by all parties involved with this Public Open Space – Central Government, Local Council and Environmental Agencies alike – that the Naze peninsula forms a strategic part of the stability of the north Essex coast and that the ‘awareness’ that the NPS has subsequently ‘stimulated’ during its nine years of campaigning and fundraising should manifest itself in some form of constructive and focussed expression of this wider concern.
While this expression might seem like gesturing and symbolising, an environmental NGO - like the Naze Protection Society - has to confront the realism of Government rules (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) that clearly value the tangibles of common economic infrastructure above the intangibles of rare wilderness loss. That the Walton Backwaters is the largest natural environment of its kind in the coastal region of Eastern England should be a compelling enough reason to make a case for such a protective gesture and symbol. The Naze Protection Society has taken upon itself the mantle of mediator in procuring agreement from diverse groups for this ‘expression’. Furthermore, it has inherited the responsibility of virtually sole fundraiser; local council money is severely limited and the Backwater’s plentiful supply of perennial brent geese do not pay council tax! Fundraising is an ongoing challenge in itself, the credibility of which requires the recorded approval and support of the significant bodies involved. It requires unanimity.
Without this, the funding will not be forthcoming; the expression will never be expressed.
The Project – General Objectives:
So, what is this hoped–for unanimous expression of concern that may or may not have far-reaching implications for the way we may yet manage our maritime environment? What is this planned 150-metre public walkway that will cost the most part of a million pounds sterling? What is this ‘symbolic gesture’?
We have called it CRAG WALK. In simple terms it is a public viewing platform whereby the general public and academics alike have the opportunity to experience the significance of Red Crag and its unique fossil bearing strata in a tidal-free, erosion-free environment. In effect we will preserve a representative section of the eroding Naze Cliffs – a Site of Special Scientific Interest – frozen in time for the benefit of human knowledge.
Furthermore, we will turn this geological experience into one of expansive interpretation with the addition of graphic weatherproof information boards that will stimulate awareness (the very wording from our charitable constitution) for the prehistoric landscape; for the formation of the Naze peninsula; for the massive land sculpturing of the Ice Age; for the significance and the location of the fossils that demonstrate the cooling process of the earth’s surface over millions of years - and for the present day flora and fauna, some of which is virtually unique to the area.
We intend to draw other local heritage and conservation groups into an ongoing partnership to enable maintenance and expansiveness of the environmental experience. We intend that this maintenance and expansiveness covers the prevention of erosive outflanking of the site; the preservation of the historic monument, the Naze Tower; and the establishment of a visual and academic database that includes such things as fossil finds, survey work and landscape changes.
We want CRAG WALK to become a maritime heritage site that will not only be a successful project in its own right, but will also stimulate the growth of other similar schemes along our soft, vulnerable – and often neglected - coastline.
The Project – Site Specific Aims:
The following is a breakdown of the main aims of the project:
1. Public access walkway atop a rock retaining wall acting as a soft sea defence thereby encouraging natural beach formation.
2. Visual interpretation boards that widen the scope of the specific geological location of the project into the wider natural and social sciences.
3. Management and conservation of the biodiversity of the CRAG WALK section of the Naze cliffs.
4. Maintenance of zones of geological stratifications – including the beach zone – using a technique of mosaic terracing of the cliff profile.
5. Provide a networking system to create partnerships of sympathetic heritage and conservation groups both locally and nationally.
6. Promote and establish a visual and documentary survey record for inclusion into an independently managed academic database in the public domain.
7. Stabilise the site to minimise the risk of collapse of the Naze Tower (grade2*) monument.
8. Establish a long term commitment to the maintenance of the integrity of the CRAG WALK structure against both direct erosion and outflanking erosion.
The Proposed Location:
The walkway will be sited upon a continuation of the existing rock placements that mark the northern limit of coastal protection currently afforded by the Tower Groyne structure.
The Naze Protection Society
August 2006
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3. John Ryan's Council Plans for the Naze Cliffs (Q & A Session from AGM 2005)
After displaying location photographs of the Naze environment, taken from the cliff face and from the air, John Ryan [Head of Tendring District Council's Technical Services Department] took questions from the floor.
Q.How much would it cost to rebuild the original coastal protection defences?
A.John Ryan stated that government funding for coastal protection work required a 5 to 1 cost benefit ratio. The reinstatement of the Victorian groyne network would cost £15 – 20 million. There was no way that a viable case could be presented for the Naze. (It was not clear whether his costing was referring to concrete groynes or wooden ones that would be considerably cheaper to construct.)
One scheme that had been considered – the Three Hard Points – designed to slow erosion to nothing over a 100 year period using ‘fish-tail’ rocks similar to those in use at Jaywick – would have failed due to the inability to establish tangible beach content in the face of North Sea wave exposure. This had been proved by government-funded research.
Q.Who is responsible for protecting the coastline?
A.English Nature is responsible for environmental conservation and is generally opposed to the prevention of erosion because the cliffs are a sight of special scientific interest for fossil study. They have already held up two public enquiries on these grounds. The Environment Agency is responsible for coastal flood defence round the point (Stone Point) at the northern end of the Naze. Tendring District Council is responsible for the protection of the Naze cliffs, the erosion of which would ultimately put property in danger. John Ryan stated that the houses in Old Hall Lane were safe for at least another 100 – 120 years. As a compromise solution, English Nature had agreed to a small revetment scheme (100 metres) costing £800k to protect the Naze Tower as a matter of urgency. However, due to the poor cost benefit ratio, there would be no central government funding. Since Tendring District Council did not have the funds, it was up to the Naze Protection Society to find the money through continued fund raising including a Heritage Lottery Bid.
Q.What is TDC’s Annual Maintenance Budget?
A.£500,000 p.a. covers 18 kilometres of coastline. £1-200k of this comes from the revenue support budget. It is used to maintain amenity value. For instance, in 2005, £250,000 is being spent on Sunny Point; in 2004 the money was spent in Harwich. Clacton is also in a poor condition and cannot get government funding.
Q.How will maintenance work on the cliff face be carried out?
A.The excavation equipment needed to maintain fossil exposure will be light and able to be transported via the revetment road.
Q.What input would the council have in producing the lottery bid Project Plan?
A.John Ryan said that Tendring District Council did not have the expertise to produce this information ‘in house’.
Q.What about draining the cliffs?
A.Drainage doesn’t help the erosion question at all. A ‘water-logged’ 1 in 6 cliff gradient would be far more stable than a dry 1 in 2 cliff gradient.
Q.What are the effects of industrial development?
A.If more dredging goes ahead (e.g. Bathside Bay) then sea walls will have to be breached in order to provide alternative habitat for wildlife in the form of salt marsh. This is known as ‘managed retreat’. This has been going on for several decades. For instance, Anglia Water Authority deliberately abandoned the Tamarisk Sea Wall (in favour of a new one built inland) when they built their plant.
Q.Will some of the cliffs be lost during revetment building work?
A.The wall will be sited well forward of the cliff toe in order to gain the maximum amount of cliff material.
Q.How will TDC maintain the revetment once it has been built?
A.The 100-metre wall will initially be built in one phase. Maintenance work will be done every five years at which times it is estimated that 5-9 ton rocks will be required for effective wave energy dissipation. The wall will be extended by about eight metres during these periods of maintenance work.
Q.What guarantee is there that this will happen?
A.Governments change – as do their priorities. We can only realistically plan for about ten years into the future
Q.Would you comment on the substance of the letter from Chris Gibson (English Nature)? [David Gager then read the letter out for the benefit of the public present. In it, Chris Gibson states that the Naze is a resource for Clacton's beach material.]
A.John Ryan commented that what Chris Gibson says in his letter is ‘not proven’. The sand moves in a circular (three dimensional) manner offshore and back over hundreds – even thousands – of years. To retain a Naze beach of worth would require the 19-groyne plan at a cost of £1m per groyne. (It was assumed that John Ryan was referring to concrete structures – not traditional wooden ones).
Q.Do you think that more research is needed before going ahead with the proposed scheme?
A.Research is highly expensive - the last one cost £300.000. There is little chance of money becoming available for more.
Q.What is the significance of the Tower?
A.There has been a running ‘battle’ for years between English Nature and English Heritage over the safety of this grade 2 listed building. Both parties need to defer to DEFRA for arbitration.
Q.Is there any use in political lobbying?
A.David Gager made the comment that we need to lobby the new (Conservative) MP. He went on to say that the NPS had successfully lobbied for a beach recharge through the sitting MP during the late 1990’s. EC intervention has also been attempted, but responsibility had always been passed back to ‘local bodies’. The politics of the issues is about cost analysis: cost of loss of livelihoods locally; cost benefits to Hamford Water etc.
Q.How bad is the cliff erosion and has it changed over the years?
A.John Ryan said that in the last few decades it has been 2 metres per year. Right now it is 1.5 metres per year. The Victorian groynes were more effective in the 19th century because the sea level had been falling since the 1700’s. During the 20th century sea levels had been rising, making the coastline more difficult to protect. Erosion occurs on the wave-cut beach ‘platform’ at the foot of the cliff (toe). This activity causes the material above it to collapse into a natural slump of gradient 1 in 4.
At the end of questions David Gager thanked John Ryan for his presentation. The meeting ended at 8.40pm.
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