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Hemsby: Cliff-top homes due to be demolished as collapse risk grows

Three houses near the cliff edge in Norfolk are to be demolished as the tide cuts into sandy cliffs.

A number of local residents have abandoned their timber properties at The Marrams in Hemsby, some of which are less than 1 m (3.2 ft) from the edge and are in danger of collapsing.

Several outbuildings fell victim to the flooding around 21:00 GMT on Friday.

The houses are expected to be demolished from 11:00 a.m.

A surveyor from the building control board is currently checking weather conditions and whether the lots are ready for demolition, while all the homeowners have returned to pack up the final pieces.

One of them, Mary Withey, who has lived in her home for four years, said she and her partner “got what we could.”

“I don’t agree with that, it was my home, I don’t want to move… it’s very sad,” she said.

“When I first heard [it would be demolished] I was shocked and today I just cried, it’s terrible.”

The only access road to the properties on the Marrams has also been closed and is expected to collapse. As the sea rose on Friday, a shed and playhouse toppled over the cliff.

The Hemsby Independent Lifeboat crew rescued two chickens still in the shed which they said “put a smile on everyone’s face”.

Daniel Hurd, helmsman, with the lifeboat crew said it had been a “long ole night”.

The Highways Agency closed the road Friday night and BT responded to a telegraph pole tipping over at the edge.

“Luckily we managed to get that to the beach and not endanger public safety by having it fall on them,” he said.

He added that “the wind has dropped and the sea is flat as a pancake at the moment” and that the crew will now “see where today takes us”.

“We can only wish for this weather and the rough seas over the weekend,” he said. “If we had that [before] we would have had no harm… but it will happen [eventually] and we just need to put something in place to keep it from constantly eroding the surface of the dunes.

“My concern now is whether [the erosion] comes to the car parks we may have to close the lifeboat station doors and then you’ll have no sea cover off Hemsby at all… and that’s serious.”

The village near Great Yarmouth has a population of around 3,000 and was once home to a pontines holiday camp.

This week’s events have been the culmination of harsh weather conditions and high tides.

Firefighters knocked on doors on Friday, urging those still in the affected properties to evacuate their homes.

How it happened: Houses on cliffs collapse from fear

On Friday, Great Yarmouth Borough Council chief Sheila Oxtoby said she wanted to put some stone on the beach as a “temporary solution” to protect road access to a number of other properties.

It is expected that 19,000 tons of granite will arrive on Wednesday.

Ms Oxtoby said: “At the same time as we are addressing the immediate issue, we are also looking at how we can use our emergency powers to provide a temporary rock berm solution to allow us more time for the main programme.”

However, Mr Hurd said the current situation is “heartbreaking” and could have been resolved sooner.

He said: “I just think it’s absolutely ridiculous, this has been an emergency for years and it took them this weekend to realize it was an emergency and then put a rock embankment on the beach.”

Councilor James Bensley said he could understand people being frustrated but there had been “so much bureaucracy”.

“It’s a real minefield to make sure that what the local government and authorities are doing is the right course of action and I can totally understand people’s frustration,” he said.

“We [also] We need to make sure it works, we need to make sure it’s affordable and doesn’t spill further south down the coast.

“I know the process and the time taken is exhausting and I can totally understand and understand that, but we have to do it right and with the tools we have and through the right channels.”

Last year a 1.3 km (0.8 mile) rock wall at the base of the cliff was approved in principle but community funding for the £15m scheme has been “difficult to come by” at just £2.5m were available from the government.

This isn’t the first time houses in Hembsy have fallen victim to the sea.

Seven bungalows along The Marrams had to be demolished when sand cliffs washed away in March 2018 and “the worst storm surge in 60 years” destroyed seven houses in December 2013.

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