West Sussex residents launch campaign to save beach - 'We are going to be under water one day'

Hamish Neathercoat has partnered with fellow Climping residents Ewout Benschop and Rodger Smith to produce an eye-catching video appeal, using drone footage to display how the beach has drastically changed for the worse since 2017.

The military veteran, of Apple Tree Walk – who regularly swims in the sea for his mental and physical health – said: “Our once beautiful beach has been washed away. The car park is covered in shingle. There doesn’t seem to be a plan to do anything about it.

“If no one does anything, our feeling as a community is – with rising sea levels and ever more frequent storm surges – we are going to be under water one day.”

This comes as the Environment Agency – which is responsible for the management of the Climping coastline – said funds to manage the beach are dwindling and, at some point in the future, the cost of maintenance will exceed the amount allowed to be spent under government rules.

In the meantime, it said it is being as proactive as possible with the money it has to keep the beach in as good a state of repair as possible.

An Environment Agency spokesman said: “We’ve recently moved shingle to bolster Climping’s flood defences, and we plan to use a further 4,000 tonnes a local landowner is bringing in from Littlehampton to protect the car park, land and homes.

“Our local team is removing any timber groynes that pose a risk to safety. This work will continue into the summer.

“We would urge local people to always check their flood risk online at www.gov.uk/flood or via Floodline: 0345 988 1188.”

Meanwhile, Arun District Council said staff ‘have, and will, continue to work closely with the Environment Agency’ to ‘help minimise any impact’.

A spokesperson added: “The strategy for this area of coast has been in place for some years and has been regularly reviewed by the Environment Agency.

"Arun District Council is working in close collaboration with the agency together with other stakeholders to provide a co-ordinated approach, and we understand that the agency have been providing regular updates to those affected.”

However, local residents like Hamish are fearing the worst.

"We believe that a combination of poor management, climate change and ever more frequent storm surges have resulted in the decimation of Climping beach in a little over three years,” Hamish said.

"The community of Climping is now at serious risk from further flooding and coastal erosion, and most likely parts of Littlehampton also.”

Hamish said the response to the campaign has been ‘absolutely cataclysmic’.

"We believed there were an awful lot of people concerned but they didn’t know what to do or have anyone to latch onto,” he said.

"We have stuck our heads above the parapet and people are coming out the woodwork.

“We have are hoping to have a meeting with the Environment Agency. It’s becoming something everybody wants to talk about. People are waking up to it.”

You can find out more about the Save Climping From The Sea campaign via its website as well as on YouTube and Facebook.

See also: WATCH: Climping beach left to 'natural management' due to lack of funds to repair flood defences

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