A brief history of the Shotley cliffs

The story begins in the middle of the last century when the naval training establishment known as HMS Ganges dumped their rubbish over the edge of the cliff on the south side of what was then a large playing field. One can imagine that erosion of the cliff and need to contain the dump led the Royal Navy in 1966 to install the pilings that we see today. What remains of the rubbish dump is now part of the cliff, and the playing field was developed for housing in the 1980’s.

However, the damage to the cliff continues. Rising sea levels and severity of winter storms have accelerated erosion at the foot of the cliff and many ancient trees have been lost to the sea since 2000. The pilings are badly rusted and leaning in places. The area at risk now extends from the picnic area at the foot of Bristol Hill to the RSPB sanctuary some 750m to the west.

Due to an oddity in the way the boundaries are defined, the cliffs are regarded as neither part of the English coastline nor part of the river system. As a result, there is no statutory duty on any official body to provide or maintain the coastal defences. This can only be remedied by an Act of Parliament, and nobody is expecting that to happen soon.

A project to improve the defences under the authority of Shotley Parish Council started in 2010. Grants were obtained and work completed for the first two of three planned phases over the following two years. In 2012, as part of the Shotley Heritage Park Business Plan, the council purchased 8 acres of threatened woodland and 50 acres of foreshore. Unfortunately since then the project has encountered overwhelming technical, financial and legal difficulties. The Parish Council had no option but to abandon the final phase. Problems with Phases 1 and 2 continue and their expected life is about one quarter of the one hundred years originally quoted.

In March 2018, the Parish Council held a meeting with the statutory bodies - SCC, BDC, the EA, NE, a number of interested parties and SOS.  Despite the arguments of the Parish Council, none of these was prepared to lead the project although all pledged to assist 'any community group wanting take the lead'. Subsequently a public meeting was arranged in the village hall at which the same bodies were present.  All restated their refusal to lead the project.

The group that became the SPSCIC started as a show of hands at that public meeting. It now needs those pledges to be honoured, if it is to help save the cliff. Take a look at the Showcase section of our site to see how it is changing.

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