Naze Cliffs Fall Into Sea Even Though It’s Known How To Stop It

The Naze cliffs are crumbling into sea.  This is EA and so UK government policy. A few yards to south the cliffs have been stopped from falling into sea.

Here are cliffs near Naze Tower, the people on cliffs probably help the erosion.


At the north east end of Naze the part of path along sea wall has already been eroded away.


EA’s plan for how this area should look from 2055 to 2105 shows they plan to allow most of the eastern sea facing part of Naze to fall into sea.  And they plan to manage realign the seawall (ie knock down the sea wall) to the north and west (along Walton Channel).

In other words not only do Environment Agency plan for sea to wash the Naze away, they are going to actively speed up the process.


Here are the SMP colour codes. SMP stands for Shoreline Management Plan, how EA plan to ‘protect’ the coast until 2105.

smpPolicyColorCodeIf we zoom in on the Naze, for the plan up to 2025 we can see EA plan to manage realign the cliffs by the Naze Tower, and let most of the rest of sea facing cliffs fall into the sea, NAI or No Active Intervention.

This strikes me as insane.

The cliffs are supposed to be eroding at 1-2metres per year, so in a few years the sea will be able to attack the Naze Tower from the north.  So much for saving the Naze Tower.


From Clacton to the Naze, action has been taken to stop cliffs falling into the sea.

Three things are required.

  1. Scuplt the cliffs so they have a gentle slope and not a shear drop.
  2. Build groynes so a bank of dry sand accumulates in front of the cliffs which prevents the sea attacking the base of the cliffs.
  3. Install drains so water can run away


There is a notice by Crag Walk which explains how the sea attacks the base of the cliffs.


Apart from the people who like to climb on the cliffs, another problem are these holes




Which are almost certainly made by rabbits, who tend to hide during the day


but not always






There are layers of sand and clay in the cliffs. 

In the summer these dry out, when it rains the clay becomes slippery and sand layer tends to slide over the clay.


Scuplting and draining the cliffs helps to prevent this.

I remember in the 1960s there were cliff slides in Frinton, after the cliffs where sculpted to their current shape, the problem went away.

So lets look at the cliffs along Tendring coastline

Clacton south of pier


Clacton north of pier


Holland Haven


Frinton from near Pole Barn Lane looking south


Frinton from near Pole Barn Lane looking north


Naze below Sunny point, a few yards from Crag Walk


Groynes at Jaywick and Seawick, courtsey of Google.

Clearly showing a bank of dry sand protecting sea wall.


Groynes at Clacton south of pier, again a bank of dry sand in front of sea wall.


Groynes at Walton


 Groynes at Dovercourt/Harwich


But don’t build groynes like these at Holland Haven (actually they’re being replaced)



 Cliff drainage near Sunny Point, Naze


 Cliff drainage at Holland Haven


Just in case you have any doubt, this aerial picture from Google clearly shows how the cliff falls start immediately there are no groynes and cliffs have not been sculpted.



Returning to the north east part of Naze, it looks to me this is part of the area where EA said they would hold the line until 2025






I guess their idea of hold the line must be different to mine


Why is the Naze being allowed to fall into the sea?

I guess there are 2 main reasons

People want to be able to find fossils.


People want to be able to find fossils

What will happen to the houses on the Naze as it erodes away?

What will happen once the sea breaks into Backwaters (aka Hamford Water)?


The EA map shows the Naze protects this area of intertidal habitat.  So EA who have spent time and money attempting to increase salt marsh and intertidal habitat are simultaneously, by their neglect, threatening the very habitat they tried to protect.


On the bright side it will be quicker to get out to sea from the marina.

Is it really worth allowing this destruction just so people can find fossils?


The cost of Crag Walk was about £1.2 million for 110 million, very roughly £10,000/metre, curiously about the same cost as TDC have spent on defending coast elsewhere

The current repair and renovation to Holland and Clacton sea wall and groynes are budget at around £30million for around 5km or £6000/metre.

Very roughly there is about 1.5km of sea facing undefended cliff at the Naze so the cost might be in the region of £10-15 million.

Seems a lot until  you consider the cost of the Gunfleet Sands wind farm is given by Wikipedia as £300 million.


As I was writing gave the TOTAL contribution of ALL UK windfarms as 2/3 of  one percent.


Windfarms produce no electricity when there is no wind. Although the maximum power Gunfleet Sands can produce is 172MW it is rated (optimistically) to be able to only deliver 35.4% of this  – around 60MW.  At a build cost of £300million this represents a cost of £5million/MW.

Here is a report of a gas electric power station which costs £300million and delivers 300MW, £1million/MW.  Five times better value.

And guess what it will produce power when the wind doesn’t blow.

And it will not have to be paid NOT to produce electricity when there is too much.

To get 300MW of electricity from Gunfleet Sands there would have to be 5 times as many windmills costing £1.5 billion.

Am I making the case that if government stopped wasting money on pointless pet projects there would be ample money for defending the Naze (and rest of UK coast).  There would also be more money for schools, NHS, defense.

But it’s worse.

The reason for building windfarms (at 5 times the expense of gas power stations) is so your electricity bills double.

I mean, to avoid emitting CO2 in order to stop global warming.  But not only have global temperatures stopped rising,  global temperaturs are actually FALLING.  Since 2000 according to the RSS satellite.

It’s kind of hard to believe in global warming when global temperatures are falling, or that is necessary to stop emitting CO2 as CO2 is causing global warming, when there is global cooling.


Let’s look at how EA spends money.

In  February 2014 John Redwood reported EA spent £540 million on staff but only £20 million on drainage.

EA Spend £593Million On Staff £20Million On Drainage – See more at:


In January 2014, during Somerset floods, it emerged EA had spent £31 million on wild life centre, but could not afford to dredge the levels.


By now I hope I have convinced you

It is possible to stop the Naze eroding away

What needs to be done has already been done in Tendring, and at the Naze

The amount of money required is peanuts compared to what has already been wasted on other unnecessary vanity projects.

There is never a shortage of money for projects politicians or bureaucrats want to pursue.

So what are we waiting for?

Normally at this point I would suggest you write to your mp, but if you live in Tendring Clacton constiutency you don’t have one at the moment as resigned.  But why not write to Douglas Carswell anyway.  As he’s joined a party which does not believe in global warming/climate change and is committed to get rid of the mitigation (much of prompted by EU) it’s just possible he might be more responsive.

If he want’s your vote.

On the other hand he might feel he has enough votes already.

This entry was posted in Beaches, Breakwaters, Climate Change, CO2, EA, Electricity From Wind Power, Groynes, Salt Marsh Erosion, SMP, Temperature and tagged , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

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