Pagham plan to evacuate if coastline floods

The emergency measures seek to limit the risk to life if the sea breaks through the existing fragile coastal defences.

Work on the contingency proposal increases next Monday when Arun District Council's emergency planning officer tours the area with Pagham Parish Council chairman Cllr Ray Radmall.

Tomorrow sees the second meeting of a steering group set up by the parish council to try to get some action before next winter's storms place a large section of the parish under threat.

Already, the thoughts of residents on the Pagham Beach estate are turning to the high tides of November 15. The seas are predicted to be higher than those in March which saw three metres, or about half, of protective shingle in front of beachfront bungalows along West Front Road swept away in storms.

Cllr Radmall said he feared what could happen next winter. A tidal surge could break through what remained of the defences and sweep away six of the bungalows in the worst prediction.

Once that happened, the sea would rush into areas such as The Causeway and Sea Road which were lower than the beach. The impact would affect a much wider area. The seawater would knock out sewage pumping stations and electricity sub-stations.

The doomsday scenario would see residents having to be taken to the Arun Leisure Centre in Felpham because they would be unable to stay in Pagham's village hall.

Figures from the Environment Agency last year mentioned 160 properties on the Pagham Beach estate and 350 homes behind the Pagham Harbour and Church Norton coastline being at risk.

Cllr Radmall used Tuesday's annual parish meeting to spell out his fears for the future of Pagham in the face of an increasingly uncertain climate and need to fight for money to improve the sea defences.

He said: "Arun's emergency planning officer has asked to meet us and we will take him round the area on Monday.

"One of the things he is doing is putting together an emergency plan for Pagham. We will be the only parish in the Arun district with its own emergency plan. We are being asked to do a lot of the groundwork, such as identify vulnerable people. They would come to the village hall before being transported to Felpham. This is the worst case scenario and I pray to God it never happens.

"But, plainly, Arun has to put in place something in case we are caught out.

"I don't want to create panic but it's right and proper that everybody knows what is being talked about behind the scenes."

He said Arun had emergency measures in place once the risk of flooding became critical. But such late intervention was a gamble in stormy conditions.

A 120,000 study by the district council into Pagham's flooding problems has just got underway. It is likely to be finished around September.

If it recommends a 1.2m scheme to replenish the beach, approval for the work has to be given by the government's Department for Farming, the Environment and Rural Affairs.

This would only be given if it could be proved that the measures would last for a hundred years, Mr Radmall warned. Any approval was unlikely to take effect before next winter.

The problem of Pagham's eroding beach has been caused by a shift in the tidal pattern. This has seen shingle build up on a bank at the entrance to Pagham Harbour instead of being put back on the shore.