Coastal issues and the Select Committee Inquiry into coastal towns

Coastal forces

As the Select Committee Inquiry illustrated, seaside resorts are exposed to many interacting forces that vary in intensity by location. These include:

• physical forces – eroding cliffs, sand dunes, infrastructure and investment;
• human forces – bringing the elderly and transient in and luring the young out while keeping staying visitors away;
• economic forces – maintaining seasonality, polarising housing markets;
• social forces – contributing to transience, low pay and worlklessness;
• cultural forces – defining the ‘personality’ and meaning of resorts;
• forces of inertia – that can maintain the status quo of decline.

What are the countervailing forces for change to help regenerate our coastal resorts? Unfortunately the one outstandingly popular countervailing uberforce of regeneration – money – is no longer as readily available as hitherto, and will become even scarcer in the coming years as what remains of public resources are diverted to reducing the national debt.

It is therefore ironic that, just at a time when coastal issues are commanding national attention, when local government is being given the task of articulating local visions, and the national framework for regeneration will enable flexibility in national programmes for local circumstances, the economy is static and public spending and regeneration resources are being reduced. Asking coastal practitioners to deliver more with less, despite the fact that many coastal resorts did not benefit economically during the ‘good times’, raises the question as to whether the menu of coastal issues has become too long and complex for the resources and structures available. Chapter X lists potential friends and sources of finance for austere times.

Much is also made of the power of partnerships to deliver greater outputs and outcomes in regeneration. This concept will be tested as resources shrink and the fragmented ‘industry’ that serves, or could serve, coastal regeneration is culturally challenged to view the world differently and work to deliver a clear, realistic and agreed local vision. Achieving the latter will be the first major new world challenge. If we cannot, through local leadership, harness the energy of the many regeneration organisations and cultures that exist to enhance aspects of our coastal towns, this paragraph will need to be re-presented in another decade!

While the economy may not be strong, stronger local leadership can harness and drive coastal renaissance through greater cooperation and realistic visioning.