Strong protest against Climping seafront proposals

The members of the Joint Downland area committee voiced their opposition to the Environment Agency's plans to do nothing to the village's coastline '“ with around 38m worth of properties under threat.

This will put properties in the Climping Street area under increasing threat from flooding as well as see some farmland inundated with water.

The committee also said they were unhappy with the consultation taking place into the agency's intentions.

"We should fight against this proposal because it's wrong," the village's county councillor Christina Freeman said.

"We can't afford to let this issue slip and do nothing."

Climping parish councillor David Biss said he calculated nearly 40m worth of properties in Climping Street and Brookpit Lane would be affected by the increased risk of flooding.

Around 9m of properties would be at risk in Climping Park and farmland valued at 2.2m.

This showed the agency's reckoning was flawed when it said Climping was not worth protecting.

Colin Rogers, Arun's services director, said the agency was quoted as spending 40,000 a year reinforcing Climping's beach with shingle.

It seemed to be prepared to pay 6,000. MP Nick Gibb was trying to broker a deal with other interested parties to bridge the financial gap and ensure the beach nourishment continued.

The Environment Agency's last public exhibition about its proposals will take place from 1pm-8pm on August 21 at the Arun Leisure Centre in Felpham.

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