Legal challenge to flood plans near Bognor's coastline

The judicial review will be heard at the High Court this month.

It has been launched by an unidentified individual against the Environment Agency's draft plans to protect the coastline from the Pagham boundary to the River Arun against flooding.

The agency has proposed abandoning Climping two years after its final strategy is published because it says each 1 spent on the work would produce only 20p of benefits.

Roger Spencer, Arun District Council's principal engineer coastal, told the council's overview select committee on Tuesday: "The case going to judicial review is whether or not the Environment Agency and, by implication, the district council as an interested party, should have gone out to public consultation when it did.

"The implication, if we are found to be in error, is that we will have to go through another round of public consultation."

This was unlikely to involve Arun in any greater expense, he said. But it would delay the final approval of the strategy, if that was the decision reached, by three to five months.

Arun's cabinet will be asked to approve the final draft of the strategy at its meeting on October 18 in spite of the High Court case.

This would put the council at odds with the agency's timetable because of the need to deal with the legal matter, said Mr Spencer, but it was important the council made a decision.

Meanwhile, Climping residents have met the Environment Agency to discuss how they can help pay for works to protect their village.

Mr Spencer said it looked likely they would spend 7,000 on some basic works. The agency would contribute 4,000. "This is not the full-blown scheme for Climping. It is just enough money to extend the life of the defences and keep them ticking over.

"It will give more confidence to the people living there, but it is not the fully-designed scheme one would expect from an Environment Agency policy."

The agency also agreed at the meeting, chaired by MP Nick Gibb, to fulfil its obligations under two legal agreements it has with a local landowner regarding ongoing protection to areas along the Climping frontage.

Climping's residents were angered in June 2009 when the agency revealed its draft strategy to abandon the village's sea defences.

It says no properties will be lost to the sea after a century but a small number of homes around Atherington are likely to suffer a heightened risk of flooding.