Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
DREAM HOMES
LORRY driver Edd Cane had believed that his clifftop house would easily see him and his wife Lynn through their retirement.
But their joy has turned to “heartbreak” because their dream home is in danger of disappearing over the edge.
The couple moved to the bungalow 15 years ago. At that time it sat about 27 yards back from the drop, behind another house.
But the 120ft-high clay cliff began to crumble 12 months ago. In June last year their neighbours’ home tumbled over the edge along with their car, leaving only the swimming pool undamaged.
The family, including four children, were unharmed but they left the house – which was called Cliffhanger – with just the clothes on their backs.
Structural engineers have told Edd his property is safe... for now. But as little as five yards separate it from the edge.
Other people face the same plight. They say they feel “abandoned”, adding the council has done nothing to defend their homes from further erosion.
Edd, 67, said: “It is heartbreaking. Each morning I wake up worried and look out of the window to see how much more of the cliff has disappeared.
“When it first happened, I thought there might be some compensation available, so I phoned estate agents to get our home valued.
“But when I told them where it was they said the value is nothing.
“I asked for the price of what it would have been before the cliff went but I was told this is not possible under law. I felt sick.”
Edd, who has spent a great deal of time renovating the home, added: “Everything we’ve worked for has gone.
“I’ve installed solar panels and a heat pump to make the property eco-friendly but I was told by the council if it erodes too much more they will put a demolition order on it and I will be expected to pay to have my house demolished. Talk about rubbing salt into the wounds.”
When Edd and Lynn, 66, bought their home in Eastchurch on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, a survey predicted erosion of around 1ft a year could take place.
This would have meant erosion of 15ft since they moved in, but there has been roughly 60ft. Each time a storm
hits or there is constant bad weather, like in March when a month of rain fell in days and washed away chunks of cliff, their home ends up closer to the edge. Edd and other villagers are fighting to save their properties. They say they have been pleading for years for protection from coastal erosion. But little has been done because the soft clay cliffs contain fossils, meaning the area is part of a site of special scientific interest.
When Edd’s neighbours’ home on Surf Crescent tumbled off the cliff edge