Coastal Erosion

Steff Aquarone Excerpts

Thursday 26th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Jenny Riddell-Carpenter]

We explicitly talk about planning in our report. It is a key issue; when we are building new homes and new communities, we must take coastal erosion into account. Recommendation 37 makes that exact point. It is critical that people buying homes in the future in places where we know there is risk now should be protected, and we should not be building in those places.

[Steff Aquarone (North Norfolk) (LD)]

North Norfolk residents, researchers and council staff all contributed to this inquiry. I welcome this report—I think it is excellent, and I thank the hon. Member for presenting it today.

I wanted to ask her about two points. First, she has already touched on Flood Re; does she agree that the Government must work at pace to bring about the coastal equivalent? Secondly, on the wider social cost of coastal erosion, I will reference Happisburgh in my constituency, where recent discoveries redefined the Anthropocene. Does the hon. Member agree that a failure to protect coastal communities is not just measured in financial costs to homeowners?

[Jenny Riddell-Carpenter]

My district council, East Suffolk council, has worked incredibly closely with the hon. Member’s council on bringing forward measures and on cross-learnings. When we have talked about Thorpeness in my local area, we have discussed lots of learnings from his constituency. The impact of coastal erosion on those communities—the financial impact and the mental health impact—cannot be overstated. As our report makes clear, we do not value our coast enough; we do not understand the value it creates for our communities, financially and over the longer term.