‘It seems like we are totally abandoned’
Devastated owner describes how she feels about gradually losing home to coastal erosion
A HOME-OWNER whose house is just yards from falling into the sea has said she feels “totally abandoned” by the authorities as councillors pledged to lobby the Government for more funding.
Deborah Hawksley, 61, has a holiday chalet on Green Lane, in Skipsea, where residents have been told their homes are among 24 on the East Yorkshire coast that will be lost to coastal erosion within the next five years.
Ms Hawksley, whose family have owned a property on the cliff-top since 1934, said the thought of losing her “slice of paradise” was “utterly devastating” and urged the Government to fund more sea defences.
The former professional opera singer attended a council meeting in Beverley, where councillors discussed a report that found areas of the Holderness Coast were eroding at a rate of more than one metre each month.
Richard Jackson, principal sustainable development officer at East Riding Council, said the council had “limited” financial support to help residents cover the cost of demolishing their properties – which can be between £15,000 and £40,000 – but they were continuing to ask the Government for funding.
David Elvidge, who chaired the meeting, said: “The sub-committee supports the council’s decision to lobby Government for a dedicated ongoing fund.”
He added: “The sub-committee recognises the excellent work being done to support residents and businesses at risk of coastal erosion and we ask the Government to recognise the role of local authorities delivering support to local residents and businesses around coastal erosion.”
But Ms Hawksley said she had had no contact with the council
They have no thought or compassion for our situation
Deborah Hawksley, 61, of Skipsea where her home is one of 24 hit by erosion.
and would rather the Government funded more sea defences.
She said: “It seems like we are totally abandoned, like they have no thought or compassion for our situation, for the fact that we are losing our homes.”
She added: “I can’t describe how devastating it is – it’s utterly devastating because for me, and I imagine many people who live along here, this is paradise.
“How many people have the opportunity to look from their own property, straight out to that. It’s totally devastating to lose it.”
Ms Hawksley continued: “There are times when the sea is literally hitting this cliff, coming halfway up and then a wall of sea cascading right up into the sky and then you realise that it’s just a matter of metres from your home.
“And there’s nothing that you can do and there is nothing that you are offered to help to slow this down. It’s going to happen, I know it’s going to happen but it’s happening very quickly.
“I believe when it reaches 9.2 metres they will serve notice on us to evict us. Once this has gone
then we lose our little slice of paradise.”
Ms Hawksley said she and her family would cover the cost of demolishing their home but added: “What a terrible way to have to spend your money.”
Her family’s first property was lost to the sea in 1986 and they built their new home on its current
plot. She said: “The Government is going to have to do something about the erosion on the east coast otherwise we’re going to lose vast swathes of the United Kingdom.”
The report found the coastline is eroding at a rate of between about half a yard and four yards each year but that some areas recorded
losses in six months that were nearly double the annual rate. It predicts that this erosion, which is likely to increase in future due to climate change, will put 24 homes in Skipsea at risk by 2025. But a “single erosion event” could put a large number of properties at “imminent risk” within the next year.