A clifftop holiday home in Skipsea, East Yorkshire, is facing demolition due to rapid coastal erosion. Deborah Hawksley, 68, fears this could be her final summer at the bungalow, which her family has owned since the 1940s.
East Riding of Yorkshire Council (ERYC) has stated that 127 other residential properties are expected to be lost to coastal erosion over the next century. Ms Hawksley has agreed with ERYC to vacate her property once it is within 9.3 metres of the cliff edge, a distance based on maximum recorded land loss.
The council reports that parts of the East Yorkshire coastline are eroding at an average rate of up to 4.5 metres per year, with some undefended locations experiencing individual cliff losses of 20 metres or more annually. Dr Anna Bird, a geology professor at the University of Hull, attributes the accelerated erosion to a changing climate and heavy rainfall, which leads to waterlogged sediment and landslides.
In response to the issue, ERYC announced in July that construction has begun on a housing project in Skipsea. This development aims to provide nine socially affordable homes, with priority given to those affected by coastal change, and is hoped to be ready for occupation by March.