Methodologies to tackle Erosion and Flooding of Historic Coastal Landfill Sites

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) are commissioning a project to consolidate previous and current research into the potential issues relating to historic coastal landfill sites. The output will provide an update and robust current national picture of the scale and the levels of risk posed by flooding and/or erosion at Historic Coastal Landfill (HCL) sites in England, to the environment and local communities. The project will also propose a set of methodologies that can be used by local responsible authorities and partners to prioritise action and identify funding sources to take forward.

The aim of this project is to undertake a national assessment to identify the current national picture of the scale and the levels of risk from HCL sites in England, to inform future action. This project will provide Government and Local Authorities with a clear and up to date understanding of the scale of the national risks posed by HCL sites in England. This will include the potential consequences and impacts to people, the economy, and the environment from the risk of flooding and/or coastal erosion.

The project will propose robust methodologies to enable those responsible to prioritise and enable action, where necessary, to mitigate these risks. To achieve this, the project will review existing evidence, prioritisation criteria and methodologies to identify any gaps to enable the prioritisation of sites requiring the most urgent action. This must include an assessment of the impact of coastal erosion and flooding on HCL sites in the future. The project will also provide a legislative review and produce proposals for identifying the appropriate action, including financing options.