Homeowner vows to continue fighting for coastline

A woman about to lose her home to the sea to coastal erosion for a second time says she will keep fighting to protect the coastline for other homeowners.

Bryony Nierop-Reading, 78, has watched the sea creep closer and closer to her home in Happisburgh, Norfolk, and now it is just 59ft (18m) away.

"It's a personal loss to me losing my house, and to me it's a personal tragedy, but the reason I keep on fighting for defences for Happisburgh is that I see the consequences for our country are just horrific," she said.

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said North Norfolk District Council had been working on erosion risk management in Happisburgh for "many years".

In 2009, Ms Nierop-Reading bought a bungalow metres away from the cliff edge, that was lost to the sea four years later after a storm.

She had been offered £53,000, but refused to leave.

Despite facing losing her current home in the same way, she has no plans to move inland.

"The further people live away from the edge of the cliff, the less concerned they are about it," she said.

"I don't think I would have been any exception. I would have moved inland and thought it was somebody else's problem.

"It keeps me very focused on the problem because I see it happening every day."

Mrs Nierop-Reading believes sea defences should be evaluated with those that are ineffective replaced by new solutions.

"I am angry that we can defend our country during wars and from invasions and now we are saying, 'That's all right, we'll let the sea take it'... I am going to go on talking about doing something because if we don't this country is just going to get smaller."

Earlier this month three councils agreed to disband a partnership originally set up to tackle coastal erosion.

The Coastal Partnership East (CPE) had involved Great Yarmouth, North Norfolk and East Suffolk councils but each council decided it could better tackle the issue individually.

Coastwise, a North Norfolk District Council initiative, has been supporting residents including Mrs Nierop-Reading, who now plans to live in a static home in her back garden.

"I will go on staying here as long as I possibly can and I will go on fighting for the coast as long as I possibly can, and I can do it best from here," she said.

The Environment Agency spokesperson said the council was receiving about £15m million funding to work with communities on the coast that could not sustainably be defended.

"Coastwise is working with individuals, communities, businesses, infrastructure owners, government, and others to explore and demonstrate how coastal places like Happisburgh can plan and take actions to prepare and transition from coastal erosion risk," they added.

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