Cumulative Impact of Severe Weather in Cornwall: Winter ...€¦ · 2.1 Key Infrastructure Impacts...

Cumulative Impact of Severe

Weather in Cornwall:

Winter 2013 / 2014 Type of incident: Flooding and coastal

damage caused by severe weather, strong

winds, large waves, high tides and storm

surges

Report Date: 19 November 2014 V1.3

Lead Agency: Cornwall Council

Author: Rob Andrew – Asst. Head of Service – Localism and Devolution and David Read Policy Specialist - Strategy and Policy

Impact of Severe Weather in Cornwall – Winter 2013/2014

Report Date: October 2014 V1.2 DRAFT

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Revision History

Revision Date Version No. Summary of Change Changes made by

14 May 2014 0.1 Initial draft Rob Andrew

12 June 2014 0.2 Updated draft following meeting Rob Andrew

24 June 0.3 Updated following feedback from

DS, AR, SB, ER, AB and AS Rob Andrew

30 June 0.4

Updated following feedback from

MA, DR, AB, NB, GT, DR, SH and

MB

Rob Andrew

2 July 0.5 General update Rob Andrew

7 July 0.6 Update following feedback from AS,

BH, ER, DC, AB ,TL, SH and PD Rob Andrew

14 July 0.7 Updates following feedback from

CS and general update David Read

25 July 0.8

Updates following feedback from

Hannah Harris, Rachael Bice and

SH and general update from DR

David Read

18 August 0.9 General update – SWW, CCF, Small

Ports etc. Rob Andrew

27 August 0.10 Final Draft Update Rob Andrew

12 September 0.11 Finance and Exec Summary Update Rob Andrew

10 October 0.12 Flood support update David Read

15 October 2014 V1.1 Updated version – Full Report David Read

24 October V1.2 Figures updated Rob Andrew

19 November

2014 V1.3 Updated PAC comments David Read

Distribution List

Name Organisation

TBC

This Document is owned by Cornwall Council.



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Contents

Contents 3

Impact of Severe Weather – Winter 2014 8

1. Introduction and Timeline 10

2. Impact Assessment 12

2.1 Key Infrastructure Impacts 12

2.1.2 Highway Infrastructure – Strategic Network Incidents 13

2.1.4 Rail Network 15

2.1.5 Air 15

2.1.6.1 Maritime facilities 16

2.1.6.2 Maritime Links 18

2.1.7 South West Coast Path 19

2.1.9 Heritage Assets 20

2.1.10 Flood Protection, Water Supply and Sewage Assets 21

2.1.11 Power and Communications Infrastructure 24

2.1.12 Public Buildings and Property 24

2.2.1 Evacuations and Flooded Properties 25

2.2.2 Work by volunteers, community groups and Town and Parish Councils 25

2.2.3 Local Support to Victims 26

2.2.4 Financial Support 26

2.2.5 Short and Long Term Health Implications 29

2.2.6 Community Engagement 30

2.2.7 Communications 30

2.3 Key Economic Impacts 31

2.3.1 Tourism 31

2.3.2 Retail 32

2.3.3 Manufacturing 33

2.3.4 Fishing 33

2.4 Key Environmental Impacts 35

2.4.1 Beaches and the coastline 35

2.4.2 Wildlife 37

2.4.3 Water ecology 37

2.4.4 Surface Water Run-off 38

2.4.5 Geology and Natural Landscape assets 38

Acknowledgements 40

Appendix 1 – Coastal Path Impacts 41

Appendix 2 – Green Infrastructure Impacts 43



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Executive Summary Background

From December 2013 to March 2014, Cornwall experienced a particularly prolonged period of

severe stormy weather including heavy rains, high winds which on occasion coincided with

spring tides and storm surges. This lead to severe sea conditions which caused considerable

damage around the entire coast of Cornwall. Multi-agency Emergency Management procedures

were being implemented almost continuously throughout this period with recovery work still

ongoing.

In many instances, particularly in relation to the highway infrastructure and the South West

Coast Path, the storm damage compounded damage inflicted from the previous four years. As

well as the obvious effects to Cornwall infrastructure and environment, the storms had social

and economic impact. This report, the first produced in Cornwall of this type, looks to set out

all of these impacts and the interdependencies as well as identifying measures that mitigate the

impacts now and in the future.

Strategic Overview Cornwall is particularly vulnerable to weather impacts on its transport and distribution network

due to its peripheral and linear geography and its consequent reliance on a limited number of

highway, air and rail routes.

Cornwall was impacted by twelve major storm events between December 2013 and March

2014. Huge damage was caused to coastal infrastructure in numerous locations and it is

estimated that £4.4m of interim and £17.0m of permanent capital repairs were required as a

result of damage. An estimated £8.2m was lost from visitors not coming to Cornwall in

January/February 2014 alone. First Great Western reported a loss of two thirds of passengers

into Cornwall and Devon while the Dawlish line was closed, despite alternative transport being

provided.

These impacts and consequences are highlighted in this report but the summary for Cornwall

can be expressed as follows:

• Extreme rainfall causes delay and failure of highway infrastructure; exacerbated by potholes

and cumulative repair backlogs.

• Coastal storm surges and sea level rise resulted in the suspension of strategic transport

links into Cornwall and critical coastal infrastructure.

• Severe storms and high winds mean that the Tamar Bridge is closed to high sided vehicles

relatively regularly, and sometimes to all traffic. There are limited alternative routes.

• Minor roads are affected by falling trees and power cables. These are key distribution routes

for local business and bus routes for those who don’t run a car.

• Rough weather will also impact on air services, particularly connectivity with the Isles of

Scilly, where supply vulnerability is an even more immediate issue.

Funding support from Government and planning for extreme weather in Cornwall has reaped

dividends in the past:

• Defences for St.Ives and Truro centres following 1980s and 1990s flooding

• St.Blazey and Par showed improved flood resilience following recent improvements to

defences and drainage.

• Network Rail delivered an exceptional and quick rebuild of Dawlish

• Multi agency reaction in Cornwall was effective.



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However, there are some outstanding strategic issues:

• Long term resilience and feasibility of the rail network into Cornwall

• Reduction in the bureaucracy in seeking military assistance to undertake condition surveys

of coastal assets

• The Flood Defence Grant and Aid benefits populous areas but not those like Cornwall where

infrastructure is limited and put under additional strain by visitor numbers. Cornwall would

like to see this addressed.

• Bid documentation funding for grant funding is too simplistic & does not take into account

the scale of the infrastructure that requires reparatory works.

Cornwall – together with other partners in the peninsula – want to be able to establish an

economic impact methodology for prolonged and severe weather. Many of the consequences of

the impacts highlighted in this report have had an economic consequence. This includes; delay,

damage, impact on supply chains and loss of earnings. Cornish communities battled through the

storms to keep local economies and public and voluntary services going; but these impact

issues need to be captured before they are forgotten.

As a guide, previous estimates made by Cornwall Council of the storms in November and

December 2012 indicated that the Cornish economy lost at least £60m.

A summary of our strategic asks

• Enabling resources to support connectivity away from the main Highway infrastructure

• Support to clear and maintain the drainage infrastructure, which will also aid Cornwall’s

growth ambitions.

• That capital project partnerships (not just public money) recognise in many instances the

vulnerability and importance of the built environment for Cornish communities.

• The need for a bespoke Cornwall Strategic Flood Deal Package to enable long term strategic

programming against the likelihood of extreme weather, rather than a year on year bidding

process, delivering efficiencies and economies of scale. This would also deliver more

certainty for communities with a strategic rather than a project approach. This links to

confidence to deliver the Growth Deal agreed with Government.

The growth agenda can also help deliver a more accessible public realm and coastal stretches.

Resilience will deliver growth and growth will deliver resilience.

A summary of our local asks

• Strategic energy supply policy to ensure that Cornwall does not face blackouts at a time of

severe weather

• Recognition of the importance, time and resources to develop economic impact methodology

after these events and capture intelligence during them to support resource allocation.

Physical Impacts

All of Cornwall was impacted in some way during the severe weather. This included flooding of

property and land at Wadebridge Perranporth, Looe, St Ives, Bude, Portreath, Penzance,

Fowey, Mevagissey and Penryn. Coastal impacts include damage to sea defences, beaches,

piers, breakwaters, harbours and cliffs. The coast and cycle network paths damaged across

Cornwall. Damage to the infrastructure was widespread full details are set out in the report.

Social Impacts

Throughout the winter there were a number of evacuations. In February residents in

Porthtowan and Bude were advised to leave their houses because of predicted tidal surges and

evacuation centres were opened. In Kingsand on 4 February residents were evacuated at the

height of the storm as were residents in Portholland and Penzance on 14 February.



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Financial Impacts Coastal assets: Most of the damage occurred at times of Spring Tides. In the periods between

Spring Tides, particularly during mid-January and mid-February significant interim repair works

were undertaken to protect life and property and to minimise further damage.

Highway Infrastructure: Over the course of the winter significant water related damage

occurred on the main (A & B) road network, this continuous wet weather exacerbated

deterioration already present due to the weather in previous winters. In addition to this general

deterioration there have been a number of catastrophic failures of infrastructure on the main

road network most notably the wash-out and collapse of a number of sections of the B3247

between Hessenford and Seaton. This winter there have been a number of incidents which have

resulted in storm damage to roads in coastal locations most notably at St Mawes and Coverack.

Rail network: Branch lines in Cornwall were affected with the flooding. This was mostly for

periods of a day rather than any extended period of time.

South West Coastal Path: The South West Coast Path (SWCP) in Cornwall is a major tourism

and leisure asset and is used by millions of residents and visitors each year. It was recently

rated as one of the top walks to be found anywhere in the world by Lonely Planet.

Green Infrastructure: Cornwall has over 4,000km of Public Rights of Way, 110 Countryside

Sites and over 130km of recreational multi use trails. These play an important role in regard to

the health and wellbeing of local communities and the tourism of Cornwall.

Government Support

A number of different support schemes were announced by Government at various stages

during the storms. The main strands of support were:

Severe Weather Recovery Scheme

To date Cornwall has received:

• £113k grant from the community fund

• £10.7m severe weather grant

• £4.3m grant from the “Pothole Fund”

• £8.4m from the Environment Agency

Council Tax / Business Rate Relief

To date there has been the following uptake:

• Council Tax – 35 Awards totalling £10,147.29

• Business Rate Relief – 38 awards totalling £253,634.14

Business Support Scheme

Cornwall Council was awarded £330K from Government to deliver the Business Support

Scheme. To date 17 awards totalling £122K have been made with £180K worth of claims being

assessed.



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Key Recommendations

As the government recognises in the “Transport Resilience Review - A review of the resilience of

the transport network to extreme weather” published in July 2014 it is clear that climate change

is happening and that the frequency and severity of severe weather events such as those

experienced in 2013 /14 is increasing. It is therefore essential that all organisations at a

national, regional and local level work together to maximise the use of all available resources to

deal with events as they arise but more important to build improved future resilience. It is also

important to recognise that as well as the obvious damage to infrastructure these events have a

significant social, economic and environmental impact in both the short and long term. The

events also highlighted the fragility and vulnerability of infrastructure where “single points of

failure” caused significant issues regionally and locally.

The key recommendations therefore are

1. Change to the current funding models for Flood Defence work as the Partnership Funding

model does not work in rural and dispersed communities with a predominance of micro-

businesses.

2. That partners at a local and community level continue to work together to deal with events

and also build future resilience

3. To work with our partners as in 2. but to also work with the other Local Authorities in the

peninsula to provide a stronger argument to Government.



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Impact of Severe Weather – Winter 2014

The following impacts mitigations, both those implemented so far and with potential for future actions have been identified:

Reference Descriptor Category Impact Mitigation Lead

2.1.1 / 2.4.1

Coast Protection

Features /

Beaches

Major

Damage at multiple sites

including third party owned

and managed locations

Repairs programmed to be undertaken

at 67 locations across Cornwall with

central Government funding.

Long term requires changes to funding

mechanism to facilitate more spending

Cornwall Council

2.1.7 Coast Path Major Damage at many locations.

Prioritised repair programme in

development with some Coastal

Communities Fund support

Cornwall Council

2.1.5 Maritime

Facilities Major

Damage at many CC and

privately owned harbours

Prioritised repair programme in

development with significant

government funding

Cornwall Council /

Private Owners

2.3.1 Tourism Major Impacts still showing July

2014

Support to businesses and ongoing

media campaigns Visit Cornwall

2.1.2 / 2.1.3 Highways Significant

Damage at multiple locations

ranging from individual

potholes to coastal road

failures

Repairs being undertaken with benefit

of central Government funding Cornwall Council

2.1.4 Rail Significant

Railway to Cornwall cut off at

Dawlish plus localised damage

resulting in disruption to both

local and national services and

significant reduction in

passengers.

Network Rail repairs and strengthening

at Dawlish complete by early April

2014. Further strengthening works

planned 2014.

Additional routes being investigated

Network Rail

2.2.1 / 2.2.3 People /

Property Significant

Significant impact in a number

of communities

Continued programme of ongoing

support Cornwall Council

2.2.4 Financial

Support Significant

Number of support schemes

available Continued provision of support

Cornwall Council /

CDC



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Reference Descriptor Category Impact Mitigation Lead

2.3.4 Fishing Significant Significant impact in Newlyn

and Looe

Continued provision of support

including funding from government CDC

2.1.9 Heritage Assets Notable Impact across Cornwall Development of Heritage Asset

Partnerships to expedite repairs. Cornwall Council

2.1.11

Power /

Communications

Infrastructure

Notable Impact across Cornwall No additional measures identified Various

2.2.2 / 2.2.6

/ 2.2.7

Community

Resilience Notable

Impact in small communities

across Cornwall

Event used as spring-board to

encourage communities to develop

Community Emergency Plans

Various

2.3.2 / 2.3.3 Retail and

Manufacturing Notable

Particularly in Penzance,

Perranporth and Looe No additional measures identified CDC

2.4.4 Run-off Notable Countywide

Various initiatives underway to pilot

work to reduce impact of agricultural

run-off

Various

2.1.8 Green

Infrastructure Notable

Damage across Cornwall to

the PROW network No additional measures identified Cornwall Council

2.2.5 Health Minor Limited impact at present but

may increase in long term

Health community aware of potential

for long term health issues NHS England

2.1.10 Water / sewage

assets Minor Limited No additional measures identified Various

2.1.12 Public Buildings Minor Limited No additional measures identified Various

2.4.2 / 2.4.3

/ 2.4.5

Wildlife / water

ecology /

Geology

Minor Limited No additional measures identified Various



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1. Introduction and Timeline

1.1 From December 2013 to March 2014 Cornwall experienced a particularly prolonged period of

severe storm weather; i.e. heavy rains, high winds which on occasion coincided with spring

tides and storm surges. The main incidents were:

1.2 23 December 2013: – Surface run-off flooding in mid Cornwall. Impacts included:

• Property flooding around Truro including Malpas and Kea

1.3 25 – 26 December 2013: Major landslip in Calstock. The impact included:

• Properties evacuated

• No through road cut off

• Properties and holiday cottages cut off and cars trapped

• Issues around fuel delivery and emergency service access

1.4 3 January – 6 January 2014 – Coastal damage accentuated by high tides / storm surges. Impacts included:

• Waves in Newquay breaking over the Blue Reef Aquarium (attraction) and damage to sea

wall

• Properties flooded – Penzance

• Roads closed due to rivers bursting banks at Lerryn, Newquay and Tresillian

• Localised flooding in Looe, Mevagissey, Bude, Flushing, Hayle, Polperro, Fowey, Perranporth,

Wadebridge, Porth, Seaton, Portreath, St. Ives

• Rail line closed between Liskeard and Looe

• Portreath – partial collapse of the Eastern Breakwater, damage to the Finger Pier and

collapse of the Forward Observation Hut.

• Fistral Beach, Newquay – loss of sand, especially in front of the RNLI and Fistral Surf Centre.

• Kingsands – cracking being monitored and a possible sewage leak

• Seaton – car park wall undermined by the sea.

1.5 8 January – 3 February 2014 – damage assessed and interim repair undertaken including

• Seaton

• Newquay

• Penzance

Public engagement work and business support work was undertaken in Looe, Penzance and

Perranporth

1.6 1 - 7 February 2014 – Severe coastal damage accentuated by strong winds, high tides and storm surges. Impacts included:

• Localised flooding in Wadebridge, Perranporth, Looe, St. Ives, Bude, Portreath, Penzance,

Swanpool, Flushing, Fowey, Mevagissey and Penryn

• Buildings and infrastructure damage – damage to road in St Mawes; part of the sea wall

collapsedat Trevone; damage to the promenade near Blue Reef Aquarium, Newquay; the

Clock Tower at Kingsands undermined by the sea.

Outside of Cornwall there was a major breach to the sea wall at Dawlish and rail services linking

the far south west to the rest of the country were suspended for eight weeks.



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1.13 14 February 2014 – Storm and tidal flooding accentuated by storm surges. Impacts

included

• Significant damage in Mounts Bay between St Michaels Mount across the Long Rock

frontage, Penzance and to Newlyn

• Penzance station flooded and signalling damaged

• More damage in Kingsand

• Properties evacuated in East Portholland

• Coast and cycle network path damaged in Penzance and access restricted

1.16 2 - 5 March 2014 – further storms coinciding with high tides

• Damage to sea defences at Eastern Green, Penzance



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2. Impact Assessment

2.1 Key Infrastructure Impacts

2.1.1 Coast Protection Assets

During the severe weather coast protection assets, both those owned by Cornwall Council and those

privately owned, were damaged all around the Cornish Coast. The most significant damage was:

• Boscastle: damage to the harbour wall.

• Bude: partial collapse of training wall and damage to breakwater

• Kingsand: severe damage in and around historic Clock Tower.

• Lamorna: significant damage to pier

• Looe: damage to the harbour walls.

• Mullion: damage to harbour

• Newquay: damage to buildings and access points at Fistral. Breach to road and promenade at

Towan and damage within Newquay Harbour.

• Penzance: major breach at Eastern Green, breach to Lighthouse Pier and adjacent to rail line at

Long Rock and to the Lido at the Jubilee Swimming Pool. Damage to the Penzance Promenade and

a large breach on Newlyn Green including part of the Coast Path.

• Perranporth: major loss of sand threatening beachside properties e.g. Watering Hole

• Porthleven: damage to storm defences leading to further damage with several fishing boats being

sunk in the harbour.

• Portreath: severe damage to historic harbour and considerable fear of full breach.

• Seaton: loss of wall and significant changes to beach profile and flow of river.

• St Ives: major change in beach profile at Porthmeor resulting in damage to property. Damage to

walkways and in the Harbour area including important heritage assets.

• St Michaels Mount: Damage to the harbour wall, causeway and coastal defences.

Most of the damage occurred at times of Spring Tides. In the periods between Spring Tides,

particularly during mid-January and mid-February significant interim repair works were undertaken to

protect life and property and to minimise further damage.

Case Study 1 – Penzance

Significant damage was experienced in the Penzance area on two key occasions, the first in the

storms at the beginning of January and again on the evening high tide of the 14 February. During the

January event damage occurred to the sea defences on Long Rock threatening the

Penzance/Paddington main railway line, the A30(T) some 60 residential properties and a large

commercial area, at Penzance Harbour and causing a breach in the sea wall at Newlyn Green

damaging the South West Coast Path, a cycle route and damaging utility infrastructure. The Council

commenced “at risk” repairs to reinforce the sea defences at Long Rock and undertook temporary

works on Newlyn Green and the Harbour. However the most severe damage occurred on the 14

February when extensive damage occurred when a SSE gale coincided with a high tide during the

early evening. As well as a number of people needing to be evacuated from their properties, damage

included:

• coastal defences, the tidal causeway and the Harbour Wall at St Michaels Mount,

• further damage to the coastal defences and South West Coast Path at Long Rock and Eastern

Green,

• a breached defence at Chyandour putting the main railway line out of action for four weeks,

• extensive damage to the Lighthouse Pier endangering the supply route to the Isles of Scilly,

• structural damage to the iconic art deco Jubilee Swimming Pool

• flooding to 15+ properties and commercial premises along the Penzance Promenade

• significant damage to the Penzance Promenade

• a breach to the coastal defence wall at Newlyn Green cutting off cycling and walking links

The damage repair bill for this area alone could be in excess of £5 million. Interim repairs

commenced in January and these undoubtedly resulted in preventing more extensive damage



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occurring. in the February and March storms. Primary repairs, principally undertaken by CORMAC,

have been completed along the Chyandour, Long Rock and Eastern Green coastal defences and at

Penzance Harbour and are well under way on the Promenade and Newlyn Green. It is anticipated that

most repairs will be completed by 1 October 2014.

Summary of Impacts and Mitigations

Extensive damage at multiple sites across Cornwall from Bude to Lands End to Kingsand. Interim

repairs were undertaken at the most significant locations including Penzance Harbour, Long

Rock/Eastern Green and locations in and around Newquay during January 2014. There was immediate

impact on cycling and walking, out of season tourism and preparation for Easter and the summer

season. Permanent repair programme is now being undertaken, funded by Environment Agency

managed Government grant assistance and works are required to before winter 2014.

2.1.2 Highway Infrastructure – Strategic Network Incidents

Cornwall has suffered heavy rainfall and major flooding in four of the last five winters which in addition

to specific incidents which have affected the highway at:

• Calstock (2013): landslide cutting off 30 houses (cost £400k)

• Coverack (2014): closure of road due to sea wall collapse (cost £245k)

• Looe (2013): landslides at St Martins Hill / Sandplace road (cost £440k)

• Looe (2014): landslide at St Martins Hill resulting in loss of life (cost £410k)

• Lostwithiel (2009): damage to historic bridge (Cost £<10k)

• Newquay (2014): breach of access to Towan Beach (Cost £50k)

• Seaton – Downderry (2012): significant number of landslides ( cost £1,940k)

• St Just in Roseland (2013): landslide affecting the A3058 (cost £100k)

• St Mawes (2014): damage to the road surface (cost £25k)

Over the course of the winter significant water related damage occurred on the main (A & B) road

network, with the continuous wet weather exacerbating previous deterioration. In addition to this

general deterioration there have been a number of catastrophic failures of infrastructure on the main

road network most notably the collapse of a number of sections of the B3247 between Hessenford and

Seaton. This winter there have been a number of incidents which have resulted in storm damage to

roads in coastal locations most notably at St Mawes and Coverack.

Case Study 2 – Coverack

A 20m section of the sea wall collapsed at Coverack on the 5th

February, forcing the main road (B3294) into the village to be closed.

This effectively cut the village in half meaning that people wanting to

drive from, one side of the village to the other had to take a long

diversionary route. Due to the number of services located

immediately behind the exposed face within the highway (1 x BT fibre

optic cable, 2 x SWW sewer mains and 1 x SWW water main),

CORMAC placed 98 x 1 tonne sandbags in the hole on the 6th & 7th to

protect it from the predicted larger storm on the 8th. These held until

another storm on the 14th February. A further collapse of the wall

occurred on the 21st February. A temporary ramp onto the beach was constructed to allow access for

large plant onto the beach to carry out the works. The exposed

face was stabilised by the introduction of soil nailing between the 7

March and 24 March. This enabled the casting of a new mass

concrete toe. With the concrete toe in place the mass concrete wall

was cast until it reached its full height. In total over 300m3 of

concrete was used in the construction of the new structure. The

granite parapet posts were reinstated and new stainless steel

railings installed to match the original, before the road was

reopened to vehicles on the 16 May. Over 200m2 of masonry

facing was then carried out between the 19 May and 5 June.



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There was damage to a cumulative length of 15 miles of A & B Road. Works to correct this damage

will be funded from part of the £10.7m allocated by the Department for Transport (DfT) to Cornwall

under a Severe Weather Recovery Scheme grant.

2.1.3 Deterioration of Highway Infrastructure

The effects of last five years have also resulted in a cumulative deterioration to the highway network

with the current backlog of maintenance being in excess of £220m and rising at about £10m per

annum. This deterioration manifests itself as potholes, blocked drainage and associated flooding. Poor

drainage exacerbates and accelerates deterioration of the carriageway surface which in turn leads to

the formation of potholes and other surface defects. As a result of the severe winter weather the DfT

sought bids from Local Authorities for lengths of highways damaged over winter period. Cornwall

Council submitted a bid detailing damage to 15 miles of Class A and Class B roads; 248 miles of

Classified and Unclassified roads and 33 bridges, major drainage culverts and retaining walls.

Case Study 3 – Calstock

Following heavy rainfall towards the end of December 2013, a

landslip occurred along a 16 metre length of Lower Kelly Road in

Calstock. This effectively cut off over 30 properties and a number

of local businesses and stranded over 40 vehicles.

The local geology was such that ground water levels were very high

and, together with the lack of effective drainage behind the wall, it

is thought that this caused the retaining wall to collapse. Works

began on site within three weeks of the collapse to stabilise the

remaining wall and secure the utility services in the locality. Re

construction works commenced on 3 February 2014 under a full

road closure. The retaining wall was rebuilt as a mass concrete

structure incorporating measures to deal with the ground

water. Weep holes were also installed in the remaining wall to ensure

than an effective drainage system along the length of the whole wall.

Close liaison with the local residents by the Localism team, local

member and Calstock Parish Council was maintained ensuring that

any deliveries to the isolated residents including deliveries of domestic

heating oil. These were co-ordinated by the on-site team to

minimise any disruption. On 15 January Calstock received national

media attention when the Royal Marines using a landing craft helped evacuate the stranded vehicles.

The road was re-opened on 22 May 2014 with masonry facing works finished on 30 June 2014.

Summary Impacts and Mitigations

There was cumulative damage to 248 miles of C & U roads and 33 major structures. DfT funding of

£10.7m Severe Weather Recovery Scheme grant and a further £4.3m grant from the “Pothole Fund”

was secured to undertake repairs.

The work Cornwall Council has done to develop a robust Asset Management Plan which assists in

using our limited resources to manage our assets, was commended in the report “Transport

Resilience Review A Review of the resilience of the transport network to extreme weather

event” DfT July 2014.



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2.1.4 Rail Network

During the 2013 /14 winter there were a number of incidents in Cornwall that affected the mainline

and a number of the branch lines. This included flooding, landslides, fallen trees and damage to

signalling from lightning strikes.

Outside of Cornwall the breach of the main rail line at Dawlish on 5 February had a significant impact

to main line services, meaning that there were no through trains from Penzance to Paddington

including the overnight sleeper for over 8 weeks. Mainline through services did not resume until 4 April

2014. Mitigation included extra flights Newquay - London and a bus service from Bodmin Parkway to

Tiverton Parkway.

Services within Cornwall remained generally unaffected. However incidents at Penzance with the loss

of part of the sea wall, damage to signal equipment and the track being undermined meant that for

four weeks the station was closed and a bus service ran to and from St Erth.

Branch lines were also intermittingly affected with the flooding. This was mostly for periods of a day

rather than any extended period of time. The main lines that were affected were the Newquay Branch

line, Griggs level crossing and the Liskeard - Looe Branch line. When problems occurred replacement

bus services were often put in place but this often caused journey delays. The expected cost of long-

term repairs to the Liskeard - Looe branch line is expected to be £3.0 - 4.0m. Commercial railway

traffic on the Par Branch line affected china clay operations. Fortunately IMERYS had lorries that could

be used to back up the service loss but this meant that over 9,000 tonnes of freight was moved from

rail to road at additional cost and impact on the highway network.

Since the spring, Network Rail has started to examine alternative rail routes around Dartmoor to link

Exeter with Plymouth and Cornwall. Initial reports indicate that a new route is cost prohibitive.

However, further strengthening works at Dawlish have been confirmed for the end of 2014 and the

government have recently announced further investment in the railway infrastructure in Cornwall

through the Growth Deal.


The damage to the Railway at Dawlish provided the biggest challenge for Cornwall with the loss of any

direct trains into and out of Cornwall for over eight weeks. First Great Western estimated that

passenger numbers to Devon and Cornwall over this period were down by two-thirds. Rail companies

were compensated around £16m for the loss of revenue for the period. 75% of local businesses

reported an impact as a result of the loss of the rail link.

The Dawlish area that was damaged has been repaired but ongoing issues remain with this section of

the track in poor weather conditions causing delays by the sea overtopping the sea wall. Studies are

now underway to look at options for alternative routes between Exeter, Plymouth and Cornwall.

2.1.5 Air

During the severe weather Newquay Cornwall Airport kept the county moving for passengers wishing

to commute in and out of the South West to London and further afield. With the closure of the rail

lines at Dawlish and Lands’ End Airport being forced to close (due to a water logged runway) for three

months, it was extremely positive that the airport continued to stay open and operated as usual.

During February the number of daily flights to London Gatwick doubled to six, which resulted in an

additional 4500 seats becoming available. During early March Flybe continued to operate with a larger

aircraft to both Gatwick and Manchester which offered people travelling to and from Cornwall the

confidence that it was business as usual. During the disruption passenger numbers to London Gatwick

increased by 90%. Newquay Cornwall Airport, Cornwall Council, DFT, London Gatwick and Flybe all

worked together during these months, to offer a travel option to those who needed it.

During the height of the storms where all links to the Isle of Scilly were not operating the health

community were working with 771 Squadron at Culdrose to pick up emergency cases. It was used on

at least one occasion.



16


During this period Newquay Cornwall Airport (NQA) showed its critical strategic importance as an

alternative means of connectivity between Cornwall and the rest of the country; and the importance of

having complimentary strategic transport networks. NQA also has a value for critical connectivity with

the Isles of Scilly at times of storms and bad weather now that the heliport at Penzance no longer

exists, although additional connectivity between Penzance and the Islands is currently being

discussed.

The health community are also working to improve the process for delivering blood to / from the Isle

of Scilly by air.

2.1.6.1 Maritime facilities

A number of ports and harbours, many of them owned by Cornwall Council, suffered storm damage in

January and February 2014. The worst hit harbours were Portreath, Penzance, Portwrinkle and Bude

with a lesser amount at St Ives, Truro and Newquay. Damage to privately owned harbours include St

Mawes, Mullion, Par, Mousehole and Lamorna which as well as being key martime assets contribute

significantly as part of the tourism experience.

Interim repair work was governed by both the weather conditions and tidal constraints. In addition,

and specifically in the case of Penzance and Portreath, diving teams had to be brought in to recover

missing granite blocks from the damaged structures in order to repair them.

Secondary damage was also caused in some of the harbours by items being picked up by the sea and

thrown against other structures. The following lists the damage and shows the extent of the damage.

Bude Harbour

• Partial collapse of Training Wall adjacent to sea lock.

• Loss of stones from parts of the Breakwater

• Collapse of seaward section of Breakwater

The training wall collapse raised concerns about the sea lock. Any breaches of the breakwater were

immediately tackled because if not then the damage would become far greater and more costly as well

as the possibility of breaching and therefore affecting other structures behind it. The repairs on the

seaward side of the breakwater had to be done quickly because they also posed a danger to the public

whereby people could fall through the gaps or crawl into them.

Penzance Harbour

• Breach of Lighthouse Pier

• Fresh water supply was lost, recovery of granite blocks from harbour, various electrical repairs and

resetting of cobbles on South Pier. Secondary damage at Penzance – fresh water break tank

housing damaged.



17

Repair work was undertaken immediately to reduce risk of further damage but also because of

concerns about the start of the spring season and the Scillonian III, the vital link to the Isles of Scilly

being able to dock. Secondary damage meant that existing electrical and water systems also had to be

repaired.

Newquay Harbour

• Damage to steps, capping and slipway

Portwrinkle

• General damage to harbour structures

Portreath Harbour

Damage to the Finger Pier, including loss of the Forward Observation Hut, loss of handrails and

security fencing which are “Listed” features and within a World Heritage Site. At one point there were

real concerns that the Eastern Breakwater might have failed which could have led to a catastrophic

event in the village.

St Ives Harbour

• Re-pointing of the seaward end of Smeaton’s Pier in order to stop wave damage to the core

• Replacement handrails


Ports and harbours across Cornwall suffered varying degrees of damage. Interim repair work in

January and February significantly reduced the risk of further and more major damage.

In August 2014 the British Ports Association working with the Department for Transport announced

£1,116k funding support for damaged ports in Cornwall:

• Porthleven Harbour £501k

• Portreath Harbour £263k

• Penzance Harbour £149k

• Portwrinkle Harbour £115k

• Par Harbour £90k

• Bude Harbour £49k

• Mousehole Harbour £20k

• St Ives Harbour £7k

• Newquay Harbour £3k



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2.1.6.2 Maritime Links

Isle of Scilly

During the winter the main link between Cornwall and Isles of Scilly had real issues. During the winter

period the passenger ferry Scillonian III does not operate which makes the Isles of Scilly dependant on

the cargo vessel the Gry Maritha for the transport of food and other essential supplies.

During the period of bad weather during late December the Quay at St Marys’ that the Gry Maritha

uses was damaged and for a period of 4 days it could not dock which left the Isles without supplies

other than items delivered by air. The main concern area was medical supplies and samples going to

hospital for analysis, particularly hitting the elderly residents and causing delays in medical treatment.


Generally the Isles of Scilly can sustain a period without supplies, but anything greater than 4 days is

felt to be a major issue. Cornwall Tactical Control Group was aware of this situation and it was closely

monitored.

Tamar Bridge / Torpoint Ferry

The Tamar Bridge and Torpoint ferries provide essential links between South East Cornwall and

Plymouth, particularly for commuters and school children. The severe weather had a major impact on

the Torpoint ferry. Lost crossings were as follows:

DATE DAY REASON CROSSINGS

LOST

30/12/2013 MON High Winds 16

31/12/2013 TUES High Winds 4

03/01/2013 FRI Tidal surge 8

03/02/2014 MON High Winds 6

07/02/2014 FRI Tidal Surge 6

14/02/2014 FRI Tidal surge 8

Of these 26 were lost due to high winds preventing crews boarding moored up ferries at start of

shifts and 22 were lost due to three instances of tidal surges at Devonport preventing ferries

loading/unloading. During the period in question the ferries were scheduled to complete 9044

crossings, the total loss of 48 represented 0.53% of these crossings.

In addition to this the Tamar Bridge had either a central lane closure and/or closed to high sided

vehicles for over 80 hours between 27 October 2013 and 28 February 2014 i.e. nearly 3 ½ days out of

124 or over 3%. This disruption had a significant impact on commerce. Over the last 10 years there

has been growing disruption to the Tamar Bridge as a result of strong winds as shown below:

Period

( 1 Aug – 31 July)

Total Restrictions

(Hr:min)

2004/05 22:18

2005/06 05:36

2006/07 11:33

2007/08 11:55

2008/09 03:20

2009/10 29:02

2010/11 00:00

2011/12 20:16

2012/13 30:56

2013/14 92:50



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Other Maritime links

Other maritime and river links in Cornwall were also affected. The King Harry vehicle ferry (Philleigh –

Feock) suffered cancellations and on one occasion the lifeboat was called to help crew get ashore. The

Bodinnick vehicle ferry (Fowey – Polruan) and the St Mawes – Falmouth passenger ferry were all

disrupted because of the severe weather or extremely high / low spring tides.


In relation to the Torpoint Ferry without extensive investment in raising the slipways there is little that

can be done about the loss of crossings due to tidal surges. However, the issue with transfer of crew

during high winds has been addressed by a more pro-active use of the Tamar Bridge specific weather

forecast and the establishment of a call-out arrangement using a locally based heavy-duty Rigid

Inflatable Boat and crew to take out and recover crew from the moored up ferries.

2.1.7 South West Coast Path

The South West Coast Path (SWCP) in Cornwall is a major tourism and leisure asset and is used by

millions of residents and visitors each year. It was recently rated as one of the top walks to be found

anywhere in the world by Lonely Planet and voted Britain’s best walking route by the readers of the

Walk Magazine (National Trail Website June 2014). From an economic stance, research in January

2014, show that walkers using South West Coast Path Trail spent around £436M during 2012, an

increase of almost 15% in the past three years. The value of the Coast Path within Cornwall has been

estimated at over £180.0m per annum. The South West Coast Path has suffered severe damage in the

last two winters which cumulatively have had a massive impact. The main locations where storm

damage has impacted on the South West Coast path network are set out in Appendix 1.

As the Highway Authority, Cornwall Council is responsible for the maintenance of the coast path. On

the section it owns the National Trust manages the coast path, on behalf of Cornwall Council. Capital

funding was allocated from within Cornwall Council to deal with the storm damage to the coast path

from 12/13 and 13/14 and the South west Coast Partnership (covering Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and

Dorset) has received £1,114k from the DCLG Coastal Communities Fund for repair and improvements

including 32 urgent repairs. However no funding has been allocated to deal with the damage from the

storms of 13/14. This has resulted in significant closures and temporary diversions whilst funding is

sort to carry out the necessary works.


The damage to the South West Coast Path from the 13/14 storms in Cornwall is valued at £360k.

The South West Coast Path plays an important role within the tourism economy of Cornwall and the

South West. Closures and diversions have had a significant impact on businesses that rely on the

coast path and the surrounding rights of way network for their visitors. The role of coastal

infrastructure is recognised as a critical element of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Growth Deal ask to

Government, to ensure long term sustainability to enable economic growth. 55% of visitors to

Cornwall visit coastal areas, more than any other of the four counties in the far South West. 68% of

their spend goes to these coastal areas (over £170.0m) and almost 660,000 visitors stayed in Cornish

coastal areas in 2012.

In August 2014, DCLG as part of the Coastal Communities Fund allocated £1,114k to the South West

Coast Path Partnership (Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset) for repair and improvements

including 32 urgent repairs.



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2.1.8 Green Infrastructure

Cornwall has over 4,000km of Public Rights of Way, 110 Countryside Sites and over 130km of

recreational multi use trails. These play an important role in regard to the health and wellbeing of local

communities and the tourism of Cornwall. The winter caused significant damage to the green

infrastructure network across Cornwall.

The main locations where storm damage has impacted on the Green Infrastructure are set out in

Appendix 2.


The storms resulted in significant damage to Cornwall’s Public Rights of Way and multi-use trail

network. This has had a direct effect on local communities and visitors to Cornwall. There is currently

no additional capital funding allocated to deal with the damage from 2013/14.

2.1.9 Heritage Assets

This winter saw significant structural damage to a large number of historic assets. This included listed

harbours, such as Mullion, Portwrinkle, Porthleven and Lamorna; to iconic designated features such as

Bude Sea Pool, the Grade II listed Jubilee Pool and sea wall in Penzance, Kingsand Institute and Clock

Tower, and the causeway across to St Michael’s Mount.

Severe damage was also caused to features important to the UNESCO World Heritage Site and most

principally to the harbour at Portreath. Officers of the World Heritage Site team within Economic

Development and Culture were able to liaise with maritime and conservation colleagues across the

Council to ensure the repairs instigated were to a high standard and commensurate with the harbour’s

international status as a feature of Outstanding Universal Value. The recent damage has also been

reported to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and was recently presented at the 38th Session of the

World Heritage Committee in Doha, Qatar, and will remain a subject of scrutiny. Safeguarding the

internationally important landscape assets is a significant strand of the World Heritage Site team’s

work, which in turn contributes to the economy of Cornwall. Indeed, the performance of the team in

this regard was particularly stressed within a recent UK National Commission for UNESCO report:

‘Wider value of UNESCO to the UK 2012-13’. http://www.unesco.org.uk/widervalue

In addition to the damage to man-made assets a submerged peat deposits were exposed at Mounts

Bay, exposing them to damage and desiccation, at least one WWI submarine was exposed on the

North Coast and significant damage was done to the Iron Age hill fort, a Scheduled Monument, at

Trevelgue Head, Newquay.

The Council has developed considerable expertise in responding to such events and to ensure that the

historic significance of damaged structures is protected and retained.


Protection, enhancement and interpretation of historic assets are a vital element of telling the story of

Cornwall and supporting major new opportunities for interpretation (such as Kresen Kernow), the

Cornish Heritage Centre in Redruth. This will directly deliver jobs and deliver more economic benefit in

terms of interpretation and discovery, leading to a more sustainable model of tourism. However, these

assets need to be protected and supported against severe weather and climate change.

In August 2014, DCLG as part of the Coastal Communities Fund allocated £1,950k to repair and re-

launch the Jubilee Pool in Penzance which is a nationally recognised heritage asset that also provides

local health and wellbeing benefits. Cornwall Council also contributed £500k with further contributions

coming from Penzance Town Council and the Friends of Jubilee Pool.

In relation to Mullion Harbour, Cornwall Council is working with National Trust to develop a Heritage

Asset Partnership which will ensure agreed specifications are in place prior to any damage taking place

to expedite repairs if and when damage occurs in the future.



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Case Study 4 – Kingsand Clock Tower and Institute

A section of coast protection, masonry wall and wave return in Kingsand was lost during the initial

storm event in February 2014. As a result the Kingsand Clock Tower and Kingsand Institute building

were exposed to the sea and suffered extensive damage. They are both Grade 2 listed buildings within

a Conservation area. The event attracted national media attention and considerable local concern. A

series of public meetings were organised to assist in the recovery process and keep residents

informed of Cornwall Councils proposed program of coast defence repairs.

The buildings insurance company responsible for the Institute initiated and repaired the institute up to

ground floor level and will undertake repairs to the upper floors in due course. Cornwall Council

provided assistance to the Institute Trustees during this phase. The building was made safe using

temporary supports following which the Institute Trustees engaged professional advice to design and

project manage the repairs.

During the period when the building repairs were being undertaken Cornwall Council consulted with

the EA and other partners with a view to commencing coast protection repairs immediately following

their completion. Initial work focussed on the structural repairs to the remaining coastal defence asset

as a number of fractures to the remains of the foundation and adjacent structures were identified and

deemed to be urgent.

Works are now complete and the building has been handed back to the Institute for completion of

repairs to the building which stands above the coastal defences.

2.1.10 Flood Protection, Water Supply and Sewage Assets

Environment Agency owned and operated assets

During the winter the Devon & Cornwall Asset Performance and MEICA teams carried out several post

event asset inspections to monitor the integrity of the flood defences. The prolonged nationwide event

also prompted the Agency to request military assistance.

Though the storms were focused on the coast, some fluvial assets were also affected by high river

flows and tidal assets by repeated loading. The list below details the assets that were identified as

being affected. Some of these assets are owned by a third party but the Environment Agency took an

active role in assisting with the repair using its discretionary powers.

• Flood Bank on the Par river

• Copperhouse (Hayle) tidal gate

• Padstow tidal gate

• Polperro tidal gate

• Bude Flood Alleviation Scheme raised defences

• Helston Flood Alleviation Scheme & Loe Bar outlet culvert and associated structures.

• Mawgan Porth fluvial defences

• Lower Tamar embankments, including Calstock flood bank

• Raised defences at Angarrack.

In addition to the affected flood defences several watercourses have received extra sediment leading to

restrictions in conveyance at some locations. Plans to dredge these particular areas and recover the

affected assets are underway.



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Cornwall Council owned or operated flood defences

During the successive severe tidal events that hit the counties coastline, the following assets owned

and/or operated by Cornwall Council were impacted:

• Bude Neet

• Eastern Green Coastal Defence

• Portreath Finger Pier

• Portreath Harbour Wall

• Fistral Surf Centre Defences

• Seaton Beach Coastal Defences

• Looe Harbour Wall

• Newlyn to Wherrytown Sea Wall

• Penzance – Promenade

• St Mawes Sea Wall

• Gorran Haven Sea Wall

Flood defence projects

In 2011, the Government introduced a new approach to funding projects in England that reduced flood

and coastal erosion risks. This new policy, Flood and Coastal Erosion Resilience Partnership Funding, is

more commonly called Partnership Funding and works on the basis that central government funding is

supplemented by external investment from other organisations and businesses.

Partnership Funding presents a very unique challenge for communities across Cornwall. The flood risks

to our towns and villages are significant and the cost of alleviation schemes to tackle these are high.

However, Cornwall’s economy and the prominence of small and medium size businesses means there’s

very limited opportunity for viable investment by partners.

Since Partnership Funding was introduced, no flood defence projects in Cornwall have come close to

meeting the funding model resulting in no investment. Without a change to the funding model for

Cornwall, the impact upon Cornwall’s economy and environment could be significant.

The LGA (Local Government Association) has recognised that this is a wider problem resulting in rural

and dispersed areas being unable to compete for funding.


Flood defence assets on the coast and inland have been impacted during the winter. The Environment

Agency owned or operated structures have been surveyed and a prioritised programme of repairs is

now underway.

Sewage Assets, Mains Water and potable drinking supplies

South West Water Waste Water Services (WWS) provides services to Cornwall, Devon and small areas

within Dorset and Somerset. Asset Areas are sub-divided into 6 distinct zones. Cornwall has three

Asset Areas;

Area 1 – West of a line between Trevose Head/Gorran Haven

Area 2 – West of line between Bude/Seaton to Area 1 boundary

Area 3 (part) – West of R. Tamar including Rame Peninsula and Saltash to Area 2

Boundary

The range of typical problems caused by adverse weather included:

• Power outages caused by gale-force winds

• Power outages caused by trees falling on power lines

• Heavy sustained and intense rainfall causing flooding to access roads

• Fallen trees barring access to WWS sites

• High spring tides with increased levels caused by low pressure weather systems



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• causing sea water influx to Sewage Pumping Station (SPS) and Waste Water Treatment Works

(WwTW)

• Surface water run-off from highways and agricultural land

• Large waves causing damage to sewerage infrastructure

• Some sewerage pumps overwhelmed causing sewerage outflow e.g. Calenick

Both large and small scale impacts are noted below.

Area 1:

• Praze-an-Beeble WwTW: loss of monitoring communications from site

• Helford WwTW: power outage problems on site restoration

• Coverack WwTW - power outage problems on site restoration and fallen tree across access track

restricted access

• Tregaseal WwTW (St Just, Penwith: power outage problems

• Veryan WwTW: power outage problems

• St Mawes WwTW: power outage problems

• Porthallow SPS: high Voltage power failure caused the wet well to flood. Power was restored to

the SPS site within a short period of time

• Ponjeravah SPS (Constantine): high Voltage power failure caused the wet well to spill and

power was restored within a short period of time.

• Porthleven Harbour gravity sewer: the harbour wall was damaged thereby damaging the gravity

sewer.

Area 2:

• Scarletts Well WwTW (Bodmin): power outage caused site issues but works were powered by

generator and mains power was quickly restored.

• Lostwithiel WwTW: site power outage and tree fell across access road. Operator limited to

access by foot due to exceptionally high tide.

• Gorran Haven WwTW: power outages caused issues and flooding of the dry well. High tides also

caused problems at the works.

• St Teath WwTW: power outages at the works

• Seaton and Downderry: A tree fell on the control room building causing damage, total

communications failure causing remote visibility of the works to be lost.

• Golant SPS: flooded dry well

• Beaconside SPS: power failure

• Polruan SPS: power failure

• Gorranhaven SPS: flooded / no access possible

• Nanstallon STW: inlet penstock failed

• Golant SPS: pump failure

• St Mabyn WwTW : power outage problems

• Fowey WwTW : power outages

• Pelynt WwTW: tree fell on the filter bed but removed the same day

Area 3 Part (Cornwall Area only)

• Kingsand/Cawsand: SPS was at a point of structural risk. Significant damage was sustained to

the adjacent Clock Tower and surrounding domestic properties by large wave impact coupled with

the very high tides.


It should be noted that recovery from the damage sustained during the winter storms was generally

rapid thereby minimising impacts.



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2.1.11 Power and Communications Infrastructure

The severe weather played havoc with power and broadband network in the South west region, the

worst hit being Western Power Distribution. Although damage occurred throughout the winter main

damage was concentrated in three periods. Unfortunately no figures are available for Cornwall, but the

figures for the South West region are

23 – 28 December 2013: 1,117 incidents and 57,784 customers were affected. 91.84% customers

restored within three hours and 99.99% customers restored within 24 hours. During these periods in

addition to additional staff being available, customers on the Priority Service Register e.g. with medical

equipment were regularly monitored.

4 - 5 February 201: 1,256 incidents were dealt with and 67,192 customers were restored. The worst

affected areas were Cornwall, Devon and Somerset, in particular coastal regions. All customers were

restored within the Ofgen standard of 48 hours for this type of event. Approximately 43 customers

were unfortunately off for more than 36 hours largely due to the volume of incidents occurring in a

short space of time and also safety concerns due to some areas being inaccessible because of the high

winds or flooding.

8 February 2014: 730 incidents were dealt with and 20,580 customers were restored. All customers

were restored within 12 hours.

Renewable Energy

Adverse weather conditions can have a dramatic impact on renewable energy installations. High winds,

especially when combined with heavy rain, snow and hail storms, along with localised flooding have the

potential to cause disruption to both energy production and distribution. The level of exposure to

weather risk individual energy facilities face can be reduced through a combination of initial equipment

design, appropriate site location and adequate preparation by energy companies. There have been

limited cases of weather related failures impacting renewables installations in the UK, however two

notable examples are the fire at a wind turbine in North Ayrshire in 2011, as well as another turbine

failure in Devon in October 2013, during severe storms.

Whilst no significant impact was caused to customers power supply as a result of either of these

incidents, appropriate strategies need to be put in place in order to ensure consistency of supply during

the type of extreme weather events, especially as these events are likely to become more prevalent.

The resilience and reliability of the electricity system can be improved through developing a smarter,

more decentralised, energy system. Investing in this transition to a decentralised smart grid can also

increase the overall effectiveness of our energy system through increasing the efficiency of our energy

use, delivering associated carbon reductions as well as the accompanying economic benefits.


Cornwall has a growing number of home workers who rely on strong and consistent broadband

connections. Some of the highest proportions are found in coastal areas (Padstow, St Ives, Looe,

Penzance, Bude and Newquay). In total, there are over 40,000 people who work mainly or wholly

from home in Cornwall. This includes important growth sectors of ICT/media and design.

2.1.12 Public Buildings and Property

There was some damage to property and public buildings but no major incidents. The Building Control

service was called to a number of sites to inspect buildings but all were structurally sound.


No significant impacts identified or mitigation required.



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2.2 Key Social Impacts and Mitigations

2.2.1 Evacuations and Flooded Properties

Throughout the winter there were a limited number of evacuations. In February residents in

Porthtowan and Bude were advised to leave their houses because of predicted tidal surges and

evacuation centres were opened, however most people chose to remain at home. In Kingsand 5

February a number of residents were evacuated at the height of the storm as were residents in

Portholland and Penzance 14 February.

The voluntary sector in Cornwall are well organised and form a key part of recovery works and in

building future resilience. During the winter volunteers from local Time Banks were used to help those

directly affected by the flooding with some of the clean ups. Often, individuals faced with the daunting

task of picking up the pieces alone are overwhelmed with the scale of the challenge. Just having a

friendly face to pop in and share the task can make all the difference. There was also an overwhelming

need for people to tell their story. They wanted someone to listen and this is an occasion when

volunteers can, and did, come into their own – having time to sit down over a cup of tea and just listen

as flood victims talked about their experience.

Case Study 5 - Kingsand

On the morning of Tuesday 4th February a slight shift in wind to the SE direction saw huge seas

coming directly into Kingsand. During the height of the storm, local councillor George Trubody worked

with the emergency services including Coastguard, Ambulance, Fire and Police services to help

evacuate residents. The storm left 5 resident homes severely damaged with people having to move

out of their properties. Numerous others were damaged, with shutters smashed and doors broken.

One resident received hospital treatment when the sea crashed through his front door knocking him

and his son off their feet.

The Parish Council led on boarding up homes that had been affected by the storms and Cornwall

Council held a drop-in session for residents to advice on services. Properties are now finally being

restored and families have been able to return home, however a number of businesses have said their

bookings were affected by the repair works.

The local Councillor has been recognised as a local Hero for his heroic attempts to warn and rescue

people from their property.

Summary of Impact and Mitigations

In summary the number of people who had to be evacuated was low but nonetheless the experience

of those who were evacuated, particularly in Kingsand will stay with them for a long time. Partners

will continue to provide support to these people.

2.2.2 Work by volunteers, community groups and Town and Parish Councils

Cornwall is well prepared for community action in times of crisis. Following the floods in 2010 the

Cornwall Community Flood Forum was established and the forum works to build community

resilience across Cornwall by developing training programmes and initiatives such as Flood Wardens

who are trained teams of volunteers and who were able to assist the statutory services at times when

flooding was at its worst. In addition to this volunteers from Volunteer Cornwall’s ‘Winter Friends’

scheme were deployed for a variety of tasks during these floods. These included drain clearing ahead

of forecast storms; checking on older or vulnerable residents during the worst of the weather; help

with shopping and obtaining supplies for those unable to get out; filling sandbags to protect at-risk

properties in Perranporth and cleaning the beaches after the storms had passed to emphasise the

message that Cornwall was open for business. In short, volunteers from all walks of life gave up their

time freely to help their communities and this sense of ‘in it together’ is what we need to build on to

strengthen the resilience of all our communities for whatever challenges come along in the future.



26

In relation to supporting local communities both Cornwall Council and the Environment Agency

encourage householders and local communities to hold their own supply of sandbags as it is not a

statutory requirement to supply them.


It is clear that the impact of the severe weather in communities across Cornwall was mitigated to

some degree by swift and decisive local action with statutory agencies, town and Parish Councils,

community groups and volunteers all working together. In many instances existing Community

Emergency plans were activated and as a result of the storms many communities are now looking to

develop and/or review a Community Emergency Plan.

2.2.3 Local Support to Victims

Volunteers were also used in the aftermath of the floods to help people to get back on their feet. From

the volunteers who raised funds for the Cornwall Community Foundation Flood Fund to those who

offered furniture and household goods for those affected. We also used volunteers to assist people in

filling in application forms for assistance and this is something we are keen to develop further in the

coming months. The notion of good neighbourliness is a simple one but can make a huge difference to

someone struggling to cope with the worst of the winter storms. Just having someone say “I can help

you with that” made a big difference to people beyond the monetary value of the aid offered.

On top of this direct support a fund set up by Cornwall Community Foundation to support local victims

has raised nearly £200k to date.

Summary Impact and Mitigations

Cornwall’s strong sense of identity has come into its own because of the severe weather. A network of

community and voluntary support is evolving but this will need to be backed up by a stronger skills

set that can complement intervention by Statutory Agencies where appropriate. Work on this is

happening through the Cornwall Community Flood Forum and the Cornwall multi-agency Community

Emergency Plan lead by Cornwall Council localism service.

2.2.4 Financial Support

A number of different support schemes were announced by central government at various stages

during the storms. These were generally aimed at supporting businesses and residents where

properties had been affected. The main strands of support were:

• Bellwin Scheme

• Severe Weather Recovery Scheme

• Council Tax Relief

• Business Rates Relief

• Business Support Scheme

• Repair and Renew Grant

• EFF – Storm Damage Gear Replacement Scheme

• Sports England Fund

• Visit England Fund • Environment Agency – Flood Defence Grant

• DfT – Small Ports (covered in 2.1.6.1)

• DfT – Highway repairs (covered in 2.1.2 and 2.1.3)

• Coastal Communities Fund (covered in 2.1.7 and 2.1.9)

• Farm Recovery Fund



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Bellwin Scheme

The Bellwin Scheme is designed to give emergency financial assistance to upper tier local authorities in

times of an emergency or disaster. Ministers make the decision to enact the scheme as there is no

automatic entitlement, but traditionally it has been set up in response to bad weather. For the winter

2013/14 storms it was enacted and then for the first time ever it’s terms were revised around dates of

spend, claims and lowering of thresholds.

Authorities make a claim based on eligible spend, which is classed as immediate action to safeguard

life or property or prevent suffering or severe inconvenience to inhabitants. Critically this criterion was

never revised and is the main reason why the Bellwin scheme would never cover the full cost of the

repair bill. For Cornwall Council the eligible spend amounted to £1.95m. However a principle of the

schemes is that if there are alternative sources of funding available then these should be called upon

first. A claim for the £1.95m was submitted to the DCLG by the revised deadline of the end of June

2014, however we are currently in dialogue with DCLG as to the ongoing works which are in line for

potential funding by the Environment Agency. As funding for projects is secured the element of spend

relating to initial emergency works in the Councils Bellwin claim will be adjusted downwards.

Therefore with funding for projects still being ratified by the EA and attracting funding the position with

regards to Bellwin is still open with the DCLG. As yet no monies from the Bellwin claim have been

received from DCLG. If the EA funding goes as planned it is highly likely that no monies will be paid out

as we would have fallen below our threshold

Severe Weather Recovery Scheme

A £76.5M fund operated jointly by DCLG and DfT was established to contribute to the costs of

supporting local communities and repairing the highway infrastructure. To date Cornwall has received:

• £113k grant from the community fund

• £10.7m severe weather grant • £4.3m grant from the “Pothole Fund”.

Council Tax / Business Rate Relief

The Council Tax and Business Rate relief provided a three month discount on the current annual bill

if a property was flooded between 1 December 2013 and 31 March 2014. This is administered by

Cornwall Council’s Revenues department but is funded centrally. To date there has been the following

uptake:

Council Tax – 35 Awards totalling £10,147

Business Rate Relief – 38 awards totalling £253,634

Business Support Scheme

Cornwall Council was awarded £330K from Government to deliver the Business Support Scheme. This

was based on the known number of 126 businesses directly affected. The scheme was designed to help

cover costs of:

• Loss of stock

• Like-for-like repair to the business premises

• Non-recoverable insurance excesses

• Extra staff costs associated with the clean-up

• Third party/other clean-up costs.

A local decision was taken to focus initially on those that were directly impacted by the storms. All 126

businesses were contacted and told of the availability of the grants up to a maximum of £2,500 per

claimant. A total of 48 claims have been submitted as at 24 October 2014 with 19 having been settled

as at this date with a value of £122,102.80. Five of the initial claims were deemed ineligible with the

remaining 24 claims still pending, awaiting evidence from the businesses that they were either flooded

or suffered financial loss. The reason for the low uptake appears to be a reluctance to have on record



28

anything that is evidence that they have been flooded for fear of it raising their insurance premiums.

Instead, it means businesses are bearing the brunt themselves, despite help being available.

Following the initial round and when it became apparent that not all eligible businesses were intending

to claim, the decision was been taken to broaden the scheme to include those that have been indirectly

affected as well as revisiting and removing the cap on claims settled in the first round so that those

businesses that were most hard hit by these weather events could be more fully compensated.

However, this needed careful consideration with regard to eligibility. It was agreed locally, and

approved centrally at Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), that the indirect impact

was to apply only where access to the business for customer or business owner was restricted, or

where ongoing third party repair works is/was having a significant impact on a business’s ability to

trade and that, in all cases, they have suffered demonstrable financial loss. This also includes

businesses that are internet based and whose internet access was interrupted as a result of storm

damage or repairs. The scheme will not cover “quiet trading” or a general drop in trade unless it is for

the reasons already explained. To date 2 applications for indirect impact have been settled with a value

of £2,215. The Business Support Scheme has been processed by Cornwall Development Company.

Summary of claims paid as of 15 October 2014:

Number of applications submitted = 48

Number of companies paid/part paid= 19

Number of companies with applications in progress = 24

Total amount of grant approved = £122,103

Total amount to be approved, awaiting evidence = £180,000

Repair and Renew Grant

The final scheme announced by Government was the Repair & Renew Scheme. This is designed to offer

businesses or residents grants of up to £5K towards making their property more resilient against future

flooding. The details relating to this scheme took some time to clarify by central government and still

required a considerable amount of local interpretation. Known figures would suggest 365 properties

(residential and business) are eligible and this will be a sizeable scheme to manage. Due to the nature

of the scheme and its delivery of building improvements, each case has to have bespoke solutions and

will need considerable project management and administration. The application and process of claims

has been streamlined to make it as manageable as possible and as least onerous for the property

owner. The funds have to be spent by 31 March 2015 and a local decision was made that applications

therefore will close as at 30 November 2014 to allow the building works to be completed.

To raise awareness of the scheme two flood surgeries have been held – Looe and Penzance - with

relatively good take-up. These surgeries also provided examples of the types of equipment that could

be installed in properties. Cornwall Council is not procuring any of the works and it is for individual

property owners to source this, but advice and support on this is provided via the Council and Cornwall

Community Flood Forum. As of 1 September there have been 39 enquiries and 43 applications. 12 are

commercial and remainder residential. 5 applications valued at £21K are complete and the remainder

with the contractors for surveys or delivery. Further publicity will be undertaken in September and

October as the gaps in applications become more apparent and as the tourism season quietens

allowing businesses time to apply

European Fisheries Fund - Storm Damage Gear Replacement Scheme

In February the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) launched a fund to support fisherman who

had lost equipment at seas, particularly pots. So far from Cornwall 42 initial applications have been

made for a total of £131k. As of 1 September, 27 detailed claims have been made of which 7 have

been approved and totalling £19k.

Sport England Fund

A £5M National Lottery Fund, run by Sport England was established in February. There are two

elements. The first offered grants of up to £2k to help sports clubs whose facilities had been damaged



29

and to help the clean-up operation. The second offered larger grants for longer-term, larger projects

addressing more extensive damage which will take longer to repair.

Visit England Fund

Visit England funded Visit Cornwall (£30k) to deliver one day workshops to tourism businesses to help

them with recovery activities, particularly marketing and resilience planning for the future. Over 240

businesses attended with around 50 receiving follow up 1 to 1 support.

In addition Cornwall alongside the other 18 affected counties did get some benefits from a national

Visit England marketing campaign.

Farm Recovery Fund

The government provided a one-off £10M grant scheme designed to support farm businesses to

restore flooded agricultural land and bring it back into production as quickly as possible. The fund was

aimed at helping farmers introduce lasting and sustainable flood prevention measures to help secure

future production once land is restored. It is not thought that any farmers from Cornwall qualified for

this funding which was essentially aimed at areas such as the Somerset Levels that were flooded for

some time.

Flood Re Scheme

For households that have a high flood risk the Government via Defra have announced the Flood Re

scheme for residential properties but not for small businesses which may prove an issue in Cornwall.

The Flood Re scheme will replace the current ‘Statement of Principles’ scheme in 2015.

The Flood Re scheme provides a fund to offer people at high flood risk, who might otherwise struggle

to get affordable flood insurance, with cover at a set price. Insurers will put into the fund those high

flood risk homes they feel unable to insure themselves, with the premium to cover the flood risk part

of the household premium capped.

The cap will be based on Council Tax bands, starting at no more than £210 per annum in Bands A and

B, rising to £540 pa in Band G. To help fund this, all home insurers will collectively be subject to a

levy. On average this works out at £10.50 a year on all home insurance policies.


All of the above schemes set up by various government departments are to be welcomed. However

each has its own administrative requirements and some, particularly the storm gear replacement

seem over bureaucratic. As yet government have not offered any financial assistance to administer

the various schemes though it is hoped that some assistance will be made available to administer the

Repair and Renew grant scheme which potentially could have over 300 applicants.

It is also recognised that schemes such as the Property Level Protection model, as promoted by the

National Flood Forum, is a crucial resource to help property owners prepare for flooding and to

mitigate probable damage.

2.2.5 Short and Long Term Health Implications

During winter 2013/14 unfortunately there was one fatality of a young man who was drowned at

Porthleven on New Year’s Day 2014 and whose death was ruled as accidental. Fortunately there were

no other tragedies. However a resident at Kingsand received a head injury when a wave washed into

his property and an elderly lady was injured in St Ives when she was washed off her feet on the

seafront. Outside of these incidents there were no noticeable increases in admissions or referrals.



30

The health community is watching closely for any long term mental health issues caused by the severe

weather but is not expected to show for a period of between 6/9 months. It is also noted that a series

of poor winters is having an impact on the farming community.


As yet it is too early to say if any resulting mental health problems will surface and NHS England has written out to all doctors to ask them to look out for any affects and report back centrally.

In terms of ‘Farm Cornwall’ (a project that Cornwall Rural Community Council operates in the far west

of the county that concentrates on farming mental health issues) they have been ‘busier than ever’.

75% of their workload relates to finance issues. The poor weather compounded this although – in

mitigation – the wet Spring/early Summer has meant that feed costs have largely been recovered.

2.2.6 Community Engagement

It became evident during early January that this was not a one-off incident and that Response and

Recovery operations would run concurrently for a period of time. Therefore a series of local

community engagement was essential so that they could be kept informed and involved in what was

happening. Community engagement events were held in many locations including:

• Calstock

• Penzance

• Perranporth

• St Mawes

In addition specific meetings were held with senior managers of various Council Services, local

members, residents and businesses to resolve specific issues. These included Porthmeor Beach, St

Ives and Blue Reef Aquarium, Newquay.


The winter storms had a significant impact in over 35 communities across Cornwall. With many

communities being affected on more than one occasion. This was compacted by the long protracted 3

month timescale meaning that in many communities full scale repairs could not commence until April

2014. Consequently it was essential for Statutory Agencies to maintain a regular 2-way dialogue with

all affected communities.

2.2.7 Communications

Communications from and between partners in Cornwall during last winter’s storms was crucial to

keeping people informed and safe. Cornwall Council’s communications team took the lead on

coordinating and publishing clear and timely messages using a whole variety of media.

During the storms the Council’s communication specialists played a key role is ensuring that local and

national press and media, the pubic, partners and Cornwall Council members were kept informed as

events occurred. Urgent safety messages were distributed to warn and inform people of the dangers to

help mitigate potential risk to life and property. Information was quickly provided on where the storms

were causing problems and how partners were responding, and how people could let the emergency

flood team know of any problems.

One issue that came to the fore this winter was the issue of “storm watchers” who as well as putting

their own lives in danger hampered the response work of the Statutory Agencies. This was a particular

issue in Portreath.

After the storms Cornwall Council communication team were an integral part of the storm recovery

team to ensure pubic and partners’ messages were consistent, coordinated and clear. Information on

how people could access advice, guidance and financial support was very quickly made available on the



31

Council website, issued to press and media, and shared with towns and parish councils, partners and

communities affected by the storms.


Excellent partner communications ensured people in Cornwall were kept well informed of the risks

associated with the storms. People and businesses affected by the storms were regularly made aware

of help available to them.

2.3 Key Economic Impacts 2.3.1 Tourism

Tourism is an important cross cutting sector for Cornwall; related to other sectors such as agriculture &

food and culture. Ensuring that supply chains are lengthened and add value is an important part of

Cornwall’s future economic strategy.

Tourism business levels from January to June were reduced but the excellent summer weather has

encouraged tourists to come back to Cornwall. This is in contrast with other destinations in the UK -

the Lake District and the Cotswolds had a good start to their trading year. It appears that the storms

and media stories of the South West and Cornwall being cut off happened as our customers were in

"decision making mode" and the February storms has impacted on the crucial time for deciding where

to go for a spring break but also for a summer holiday. Coastal accommodation – such as at Kingsand

– were directly affected by the structural weakness of the clock tower threatening their properties.

Particularly badly hit has been the farm and rural based businesses, Bed & Breakfast/Guest House

sector where bookings made in January 2014 for the following inclusive 5 months have fallen by a

median 22%. Hotel accommodation bookings fell by almost 29%. These are important as they are

employing sectors, so any offset through increased accommodation in other tenures is not matched by

economic impact. This has been confirmed by Farm Stay UK who note what they are calling the M5

effect, by which they mean their web traffic is up 30% for the rest of the country but flat or in minus

points for Somerset, Devon and Cornwall. In addition Torbay has reported a patchy and poor start to

the year. For example, one major north Cornwall coast restaurant noted that its customer base was

down by up to a quarter during winter 2013/14 and had early spring trade affected by the negative

media coverage. It appears small but significant numbers of customers have either written off coming

to Cornwall this spring and summer and even in 2014 altogether.

With the closure of the main rail line due to flooding in Somerset and land slips at Dawlish; First Great

Western reported a loss of two thirds of passengers into Cornwall and Devon despite alternative

transport being provided. Network Rail restored the Dawlish link earlier than anticipated (before Easter

2014). In addition, Government paid a subsidy to allow additional capacity to operate via Newquay

Cornwall Airport.


The storms and the impact of the media exposure, with the loss of the rail line in Devon resulted in

the perception of Cornwall being cut off, resulted in lost bookings during the storm period of January

to April 2014 with then only a 85% recovery as there is a “long tail” in such instances. The “open for

business” campaign worked to some degree, but Cornwall is underperforming in business levels

compared with other leading destinations such as the Lake District and the Cotswolds. Advertising and

the workshops have made a significant difference but recovery is still ongoing.

This impact on the ‘supply chain’ could affect longer term prices at the plate. Staff also struggled to

get to work due to the adverse weather conditions.



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2.3.2 Retail

There were 126 known businesses directly affected by the floods and storms. The most concentrated

impact was Looe where 60 businesses flooded. Perranporth was also badly affected, as was Penzance,

St Ives and St Mawes. Not all the businesses were retail, but the majority were independent SMEs and

less likely to have the economies of scale to absorb the additional financial strain caused by the floods.

Cornwall Council’s Town Centre Management team has been in direct contact with the majority of

those affected, or secondary contact (via trade organisations). The team visited all businesses in Looe

and in Perranporth, to ascertain where any future support could be focussed and all the businesses

have been given a survey to complete and the response rate has been approx. 35% so far with some

clear messages around property protection requirements.

Of particular note was the lack of business continuity planning by many businesses with no “Plan B” in

terms of operations, supply chain, communications, etc. Part of the survey work undertaken was

whether businesses would benefit from free business continuity planning advice and the majority of

replies have been in the negative. For many, the perception was that protecting the property from

flooding was a council function and not an individual one, whereas in other areas (which flood more

frequently) there was stronger resilience to deal with measures themselves.

Additionally Business in the Community (BitC) has supported many businesses across Cornwall and the

response has been good. The focus for most was to be open for Easter (April) and then the half term

(May). Visitor numbers for both holidays were strong but business performance has varied.

A number of town centre businesses were not directly affected but access to them was limited, and

there have been requests for Discretionary Business Rate Relief. The Government funded Business

Rate Relief scheme (mentioned in section 2.2.4 above) only applies to those directly flooded. Yet the

wider impact for many businesses has meant that trade has been adversely affected, either due to the

storms or due to repair works, but they are not automatically entitled to Business Rate relief. Any rate

relief which falls outside the Government scheme would have to be financed by the Local Authority.

It was noted that a number of businesses did not have property insurance due to unaffordable

premiums resulting from previous flooding. There is nervousness from businesses to take up the

various financial grants available to them for fear of it being evidence of flooding and having an impact

on their insurance premiums. Whilst there is currently negotiation around Flood Re for residential

properties (at central government level), it would be beneficial if similar negotiations with the

insurance industry were undertaken to support the business community. Another reason for the low

uptake is that businesses were naturally focussed on trying to reopen in time for the busy April Easter

period. It is noted that ongoing contact with the businesses must continue to help ensure they take up

the offers available to them if they wish to, and understanding that any application process needs to be

quick and accessible – which, generally, it is.

There was a separate issue to note with regards Railway Station franchise businesses. With the closure

of the railway line at Dawlish, the various retail and food outlets were impacted by lack of trade. It is

recommended that work be undertaken to ascertain how much impact this had and be included in any

wider assessment of the impact of the railway closure.


The intention was to run pilot schemes in Looe and Perranporth to support business continuity

planning and provide skills training to allow the towns to be better prepared for flooding. Following

feedback form the towns this training will not now take place. Instead, The Town Centre Management

team is supporting the Winter Wellbeing campaign through the Cornwall Community Flood Forum and

will provide a Town Centre Section in that advice.



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2.3.3 Manufacturing

Cornwall’s manufacturing sector is largely dependent on road based transport for both inbound and

outbound freight movements and many of Cornwall’s businesses are located on minor roads which can

increase the risk of being cut-off. Recent national survey work by the Road Haulage Association

indicated that vehicle maintenance costs for the businesses that use roads have increased due to road

quality deterioration for 81% of respondents.

DfT data suggests that the cost of each hours delay for a vehicle is £13.91 an additional cost to

business when considering the cost of fuel and drivers time. There is also an impact in some business

particularly food processing related industries which rely on the principle of “just in time deliveries” to

retailers.

Supporting the development of alternative means of moving freight, including by rail and water will

improve the sustainability and robustness of this sector is important as well as giving due consideration

to eliminating “single points of failure” on the networks.


Although the impact on manufacturing in Cornwall was limited, the manufacturing sector is highly

reliant on agile logistics to get goods to market. This is particularly true of Cornwall’s brand reputation

for food and drink. Although there appears not to have been delay to Cornwall’s trunk road network

due to the severe weather of 2013/14; falling trees and floods would have interfered with minor roads

which connect Cornwall’s economy to the strategic road network. The rural economy accounts for up

to 45% of all jobs in Cornwall, and around 40% of GVA.

2.3.4 Fishing

Newlyn is a major national fishing port and was hit by severe winter weather and flooding. Other ports

and harbours contribute significant elements to the industry: from crustaceans in Helford or Penberth

Cove to smaller yet significant fleet fishing in places like Porthleven. Indeed, in Porthleven six boats

sank in the harbour as a result of the bad weather, although these were all successfully refloated.

Fishing vessels often represent a second mortgage for their owners: with a range of technology

invested on the vessels and the possibility of hardship for the employees concerned.

In Looe there is a strong relationship between the fishing sector and tourism: visitors are attracted to

Looe because it is still a historic working port with a range of methods employed from netters to

trawlers. The immediate supply chain includes chandlers, maintenance/repair, merchants,

retail/processing, markets, cafes and restaurants. The fish market only remained open (without the

continuity of supply) by staff using up their holiday entitlement when business was idle. Looe shops

were hit in January storms with Fore Street shopkeepers being hit by flooding in their premises.

The impact of the severe weather on these businesses stemmed from fishing vessels being stuck in the

harbour for up to two months. Net fishermen needed to have a consistent two day window to be able

to fish.

Like Looe, the centre of Newlyn experienced flooding once again. Newlyn landings are worth around

£27-£30m per year with an additional £36-40m achieved in processing. January and February are the

key months when the catch value would peak at around £4.5m per month.

Nothing was landed at the beginning of 2014 as a result of the storms so it is estimated that this has

had an impact of a £7m fall in GDP. There is no way to recover this loss – it is permanent – and affects

popular species such as Cod, Haddock & Ling. The consequence of short supply will be passed onto the

consumer in terms of cost linked to demand.



34


Severe weather had impacted on restaurant supply and the availability of popular species of fish.

There is a danger that these costs will be passed onto the consumer when (already) bookings are

down. Loss cannot be recovered in the fishing industry in the same way that (e.g. early planting or

other seasonal benign impacts) can influence a sector such as agriculture. Therefore, the sector will

need greater support when it comes to marketing and supporting the fishing communities and

supporting sectors in finding ways forward.



35

2.4 Key Environmental Impacts 2.4.1 Beaches and the coastline

Beaches form an essential part of life in Cornwall, providing an important outlet for recreational use,

supporting the local economy to the tune of £1.6 billion a year through tourism and supporting 20,000

jobs (South West Tourism 2007). Beaches help provide natural coastal protection, contribute

significantly to the distinctive Cornish landscape and sustain varied wildlife. Beaches are a particularly

significant part of Cornwall’s natural infrastructure and one of the main reasons why people choose to

come to Cornwall to live and visit all year round.

Beaches are dynamic environments and naturally buffer and absorb energy from waves. Beaches

naturally change shape throughout the year on an annual cycle beach lowering is a normal winter

process, and usually beaches recover to their pre-Winter levels during the calmer summer months

when the more gentle summer waves mobilise the offshore sediment from the sand bars and bring it

back onto the beaches, recovering them to their pre-Winter profiles.

Beach Summer and Winter Profiles

The storms that occurred during the winter months (which included the highest ever wave heights

recorded off of Cornish Coast) were extremely high energy events and the beaches struggled to absorb

this energy. The sediment associated with the beaches and dune systems helped buffer the energy of

the waves and following the storms a considerable amount of this sediment shifted from the beach to

further offshore. This has had a lasting impact on the profile of the current shoreline and in many areas

sand levels are lower than in previous years. Changes in beach elevation have generally been recorded

as between 1m and 3m, but in extreme cases 8m of change in beach level have been recorded. This

level of beach loss that has been observed across the area has not been witnessed before. Significant beach impacts have been observed at the following locations:

• Bude

• Perranporth

• Hayle

• Coverack • Seaton

It is anticipated that the sand will eventually wash back onshore but the process of recovery will take

time to occur naturally and is unlikely in some areas to be complete before this winter (2014/15). In

the short term this can have a potential impact on the recreational use of a beach as exposed wave cut



36

platforms and pebble ridges can decrease the usable area of a beach (as seen at Fistral where the

Lifeguards are red flagging the beach due to a stone ridge).

Sand Cliff at Perranporth

In one location in St Ives, the opposite effect occurred in early January where sand was deposited on

Porthmeor Beach causing waves to crash into properties. This accumulation of sand was removed

before the high Spring Tides in February.

In addition to the impact on beaches the scale of the erosive potential of the storms can also still be

seen through the dune systems in Cornwall, especially on the north coast. Dunes have retreated in

some areas by more than 10 metres, leaving the dune slope almost vertical in some places. The

collapse of the cliffing dunes initially posed a safety risk and on some dunes exposed old and corroded

wire fencing. Though the dunes are still steep the risk associated with them falling has reduced now

they are lying at lower angle.

Another impact of the stormy events is that marine associated debris was stirred up and fed via the

Gulf Stream to our shores. Both during and following the storms a significant volume of debris was

washed onto Cornish shores and in many instances alongside the stranding of dead marine animals.

This debris has been collected from Council beaches via its waste contractor and also through various

community groups who were conscious of the scale and volume of debris that was stranded on the

shoreline.

The winter storms resulted in significant damage to infrastructure on many beaches including

Perranporth, Newquay (Lusty Glaze, Porth and Fistral), Hayle, Marazion, Praa Sands, Porthpean, Fowey

(Readymoney Cove) and Par.


Cliff failures and coastal erosion has led to the temporary and in places, permanent loss of coastal

footpaths on a significant scale. Through carefully delivered local strategies, investment and land

owner negotiations, a number of footpaths were temporarily re-routed or repaired to maintain the

operational of this economically important green infrastructure. Beach amenity has been impaired and

in places, access to this green infrastructure has been compromised.

A survey of the beach levels and the adjacent bathymetry of the ocean floor will help identify the scale

(spatial and temporal) of the impact. Outputs from such a survey could be used to identify potential

restoration and or mitigation measures.



37

2.4.2 Wildlife

From the marine perspective the main impact of the severe weather was on seals and seabirds.

There were huge numbers of seals, mainly new born pups, killed due to the rough weather and

separation from their mothers, as well as cliff falls. Over 2000 seabirds stranded on Cornish beaches,

mainly dying from exhaustion. Little mitigation was possible in these cases. However, Cornwall Wildlife

Trust (CWT) Marine Strandings Network record all stranded animals and liaise with relevant

organisations to co-ordinate rescues of seals where appropriate, and to monitor the impact of the

storms on bird populations. In relation to woodland nature reserves all landowners have reported a

higher than usual number of trees damaged and fallen due to the high winds.

Any long impact on species has not yet been identified and will only become clear over time. It has

been identified that substantial areas of intertidal habitat have been swept away and buried, including

habitats in the more “stable” rock substrates as well as mud and sand based habitats. The long term

implications for the loss of these habitats have not yet been assessed.


Cornwall has one of the smallest woodland covers of any England county – around 7%. Tree

landscape maturity is an extra-important part of landscape enhancement which can be lost due to

these severe weather events. Fallen trees can be plundered for their wood which is to the detriment of

bio diversity and re-growth from the woodland floor.

2.4.3 Water ecology

The Environment Agency have not undertaken any immediate action to put in place additional survey

or monitoring of river quality. Initial indications however have shown local impacts such as

• An increase in salinity of the Loe Pool (which is likely to be due to the ingress of sea water either

through or over Loe Bar)

• An increase in flow/discharge downstream of some reservoirs due to continued over-topping

• Movement of river bed sediment material

Additional positive and negative impacts may reveal themselves in the near future, as the results from

routine monitoring (chemical and biological) surveys are reviewed and assessed and compiled into

reports. These reports are typically prepared and published during the year following sampling.

Cornwall’s abandoned mining assets can also contribute to water quality issues, particularly during

periods of prolonged rainfall where groundwater levels in the adits and shafts may rise leading to

surface discharges.

CWT(Cornwall Wildlife Trust) is working with the Environment Agency and South West Water and other

partners, in particular farmers in catchments where water quality is impacted upon by land

management practices. In some areas, the severe weather increased impacts on water quality

through increased sedimentation of rivers and increases in diffuse pollution (pesticides and

herbicides). The agencies are working with farmers in a couple of catchments to seek to reduce these

impacts through, for example, creation and improvement of wetland habitats that can slow down flow

of water into rivers and increase the water storage capacity of the land – as well as improving habitats

for wildlife. More about the East Looe catchment project is at:

http://www.cornwallwildlifetrust.org.uk/conservation/Living_landscapes/east_looe


At this stage it is too eerily to fully assess any long term water ecology impacts though it reinforces

the need for water ecology to be managed on a whole catchment basis.



38

2.4.4 Surface Water Run-off It is estimated that a significant number, possibly as many as 20%, of properties affected by inland

flooding fell victim to the effects of surface water runoff, some of it from neighbouring agricultural,

open, developed and bare land. Whilst not affecting whole communities, this tends to impact

individual or small numbers of properties spread across the whole County, with many incidents going

unreported at the time and only now coming to light.

Surface water run-off from the various types of land listed above has no doubt increased in recent

years and in many areas it is a contributory factor in the degradation of highway drainage features

particularly in rural areas. The significant increase in surface water runoff incidents can partly be

attributed to a changing climate with a greater incidence of heavier rainfall events. Changes in farming

practice, development on flood plains, hard covering of gardens, etc. have also directly or indirectly led

to changing land management practices, water flows, etc. The following factors also contribute to

increased surface water runoff:

• Changing crops and different growing techniques coupled with the greater incidence of heavier

rainfall events are resulting in increased surface water runoff incidents. It should be noted that

specialist crops are an important feature of the Cornish farming sector but do not represent a

significant proportion of the land usage so their impact is limited in geographic terms.

• There may also be less incentive to maintain hedges and ditches to the appropriate standard

although as this forms part of the landowners/tenants responsibilities to meet their “cross

compliance” through Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions (GAEC) regulations a

minimum standard is still required.

• ‘Best practice’ dictates that ploughing and furrowing / ridging for crops is carried out along land

contours, however some machinery is difficult and slower to use working across contours. Further

information needs to be made available to farmers to help them understand the importance of soil

to their business and their obligations under the Water Framework Directive, which the

Environment Agency will be consulting on shortly.

• Larger tractor units and machinery can lead to added compaction particularly in gateways. The

significance of this compaction is only now being fully understood and again will be subject to the

Water Framework Directive so a programme of knowledge transfer will be required to educate the

owners/users of land about these issues.


Again this a long term change that cannot solely be attributed to the winter 2014 weather but

reinforces the need to adopt whole catchment area management plans.

2.4.5 Geology and Natural Landscape assets

The storms have provided unique, ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunities for geologists to study sections of

cliff and areas of beach that have not previously been exposed in living memory and which are now

being documented for the first time. Old storm beaches were reactivated, such as that at Lowland

Point, and several metres of sand were stripped away around much of the coast

revealing extensive fossil forests and relict coastal features such as:

• a lagoon at Kennack Sands,

• a granite boulder bed at Praa Sands and

• a former intertidal zone at Gunwalloe Fishing Cove.

Two new County Geology Sites have already been designated with another two potential sites currently

being researched. The sand is now returning and many of the features have already been covered over

again. There was unrepairable damage to iconic natural asset landscape assets across Cornwall. In

Porthcothnan Bay the stone archway, known locally as The Anchor or Jan Leverton's Rock was lost.



39


The natural landscape is a key economic driver for Cornwall and recognised as such by the Cornwall

and Isles of Scilly LEP. It acts both as an inspiration for creative business and a sense of place for

those who have their home here. The cultural story of Cornwall is a driving economic factor across

many economic sectors: responsible for over 10,000 jobs.



40

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the many people who contributed to this report including

Andy Brelsford, Support and Development Manager, Volunteer Cornwall

Andy Brigden, Maritime Manager, Cornwall Council

Andy Brown, Assistant Head of Finance, Cornwall Council

Andy Stevenson, Highways and Drainage Manager, Cornwall Council

Arthur Roberts, Emergency Management Officer, Cornwall Council

Beverley Hales, Operations and Delivery Manager, NHS England

Beverly Hill, Communications and Engagement Specialist, Cornwall Council

Daniel Ratcliffe, Historic Environment and Place Shaping Lead, Cornwall Council

Dave Owens, Former Head of Environment, Cornwall Council

David Read, Policy Specialist, Cornwall Council

David Rodda, Rural Delivery Manager, Cornwall Development Company

Duncan Struggles, FCRM Advisor, Environment Agency

Esther Richmond, Community Network Manager, Cornwall Council

Guy Thomas, Town Centre Management Specialist, Cornwall Council

Hannah Harris, Project Support Officer, Strategic Infrastructure and Business

Ian Steed, Incident Investigator, Cornwall Council

Jolyon Sharpe, Environment Officer, Cornwall Council

Jon James, Natural Environment Manager, Cornwall Council

Malcom Bell, Head of Visit Cornwall

Mark James, Localism Team leader, Cornwall Council

Mark Meredith, Tamar Bridge Operations Manager

Mark Summers, Public Health, Cornwall Council

Martin Clemo, Flood and Drainage Team Leader, Cornwall Council

Martyn Alvey, Community Flood Resilience Manager, Cornwall Council

Nick Blandford, Head of Business and Skills, Cornwall Development Company

Peter Hocking, South West Water

Peter Marsh, Commissioning Manger, Cornwall Council

Philippa Dowling, Policy Specialist, Cornwall Council

Rachael Bice, Environment Service, Cornwall Council

Steve Blatchford, Environment Officer, Cornwall Council

Steve Horscroft, Strategy Integration Officer, Cornwall Council

Toby Lowe, Countryside Team Leader, Cornwall Council

Trish Hewitt, Communications Manager, Cornwall Council

Prepared by: Rob Andrew and David Read

Job titles: Assistant Head of Service – Localism and Devolution Policy Specialist - Strategy and Policy

Team: Localism and Devolution

Service: Customers and Communications If you would like this information in another format please contact:

Cornwall Council County Hall

Treyew Road Truro TR1 3AY

Telephone: 0300 1234 100

Email: [email protected] www.cornwall.gov.uk



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Appendix 1 – Coastal Path Impacts

• Britain Cliff Portwrinkle: Footpath diverted following a cliff fall, a 100m section the Coast Path

west of Portwrinkle

• Downderry: One of the footpaths heading back off the beach has been closed due to flood

damage to the adjacent river bank.

• Gillan Creek: The low tide route option across Gillan Creek from Flushing to St Anthony is closed

due to erosion.

• Hemmick: the path has been realigned following a landslip on the route between Hemmick and

Caerhayes.

• Jacket’s Point (between Port Isaac and Tintagel): in one of the most dangerous cliff falls

witnessed in recent years, the National Trust has created a gentle zig-zag path taking walkers away

from this dangerous location. A landslide on the inland side is being regularly inspected for signs of

movement. There are plans to remove some of the material from the slope to reduce the potential

for future collapse

• Millendreath: Following a landslip, in the woods below the Monkey Sanctuary much of the path

between Millendreath and Seaton has been diverted inland.

• Morwenstow: an extensive section of the coast path was closed following a cliff fall. In

conjunction with a landowner, a new route around the cliff fall has been created and the path

reopened.

• Pennylands, Looe: landslip near the harbour has resulted in rock anchors and mesh being

installed.

• Polurrian Cove: The footbridge at Polurrian Cove, near Mullion was damaged.

• Porthallow/Porthoustock: The footbridge between Porthallow and Porthoustock was damaged.

• Porthpean: Due to a cliff fall, a section of the Coast Path at Porthpean was diverted slightly inland.

• Portnadler Bay (between Hannafore and Talland Bay): tension cracks resulting in diversion.

• Talland: several landslips resulting in diversion

• Whitsand Bay: Due to a landslip at Whitsand Bay the section of Coast Path that descends through

the chalets has been closed

During the severe weather in 2013/14 the main impacts were:

• Clodgy Point, St Ives: the path surface was damaged and there is cliff instability. It requires

diversion works, resurfacing and drainage works.

• Coverack, Paris Hotel: there was a cliff slip. The path has been made safe and remaining issue

passed to landowner.

• Coverack: Surface of the path was washed out and it is in poor condition. It requires resurfacing

and some drainage works.

• Daymer Bay: Steps to beach damaged. Path currently closed with diversion.

• Durgan near Helford: there are cliff stability issues. The path currently on temporary diversion

and needs additional works to secure a permanent long term diversion.

• Fowey, Little Hell: collapse of drainage pipes which requires reinstatement.

• Gwithian Towans: mineshaft and adit opened with associated cliff instability which affects the

path. It requires fencing and other safety works

• Hallane, St Austell: the stream and path have been undermined and it requires stability works.

There is also a cliff slip which requires a permanent diversion.

• Hawkers Cove, Padstow: there was a cliff slip which requires a permanent diversion.

• Lamorna Cove: the bridge damaged which requires repairs to footings.

• Lansallos Talland Eastern: there was a cliff slip resulting in diversion of path. Works have

already been carried out using funding from Natural England

• Lansallos Talland Middle: gabion baskets destroyed and spray concrete undermined. It requires

works to stabilise the bank to prevent landslip.

• Lansallos Talland Western: cliff slip resulting in closure of path and diversion of road. Works

required to divert the path through adjacent land.

• Lelant to Porth Kidney: surface of path washed out, requiring resurfacing and drainage works.

• Lugger Hotel, Portloe: damage to sea wall below the path. A joint scheme proposed with

adjacent landowner.

• Mans Head, St Ives: A cliff slip has resulted in the path being diverted and slip fenced off.



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• Marazion to Penzance cycleway / SWCP: extensive damage to path surface, retaining walls and

other infrastructure. Some temporary repairs carried out but it requires additional permanent

works.

• Marazion: the slipway to the beach, East of Marazion was damaged. The path is currently closed

with a temporary diversion and requires new route to be established with permanent diversion.

• Pendower Beach: Path eroded and bridge damaged, requiring path to be diverted.

• Perranporth Beach: Training wall for the bridge was damaged which has now been repaired.

• Perranuthnoe: there was a cliff failure. The path is currently closed with a diversion and requires

works to install alternative new route.

• Peters Point, Gwithian: cliff slip and steps to beach lost. They are temporarily closed and require

permanent closure.

• Phillack Dunes, Hayle: surface of the path damaged and temporary fencing erected.

• Polridmouth, Fowey: there was a cliff slip which requires diversion.

• Polurrian: the footbridge damaged and the path is currently closed and diverted.

• Porth Island: there was a cliff slip. The path is closed and requires permanent diversion. The area

is Scheduled Monument so consent required from English Heritage.

• Portloe: there was a cliff slip which requires a diversion.

• Praa Sands: Steps and handrail damaged which requires concrete repairs and replacement hand

rail.

• Red River, Marazion: Bridge gabions and training wall damaged which require repairs to protect

the bridge.

• Soapy Cove Lizard: Path surface was damaged, requiring drainage works and resurfacing.

• St Anthonys Head: a bridge was destroyed. The path was closed and diverted. It requires a

replacement bridge.

• St Blaise: there was a cliff slip which requires a permanent diversion.

• St Loy: Damage to surface of path and cliff stability issues. Requires repairs to surface and

diversion around unstable areas.

• Swanpool to Gyllingvase: undermining of the path which requires repairs to existing sea wall.

• Tregiffian Cliff, Sennen: stability issues affecting cliff which requires diversion of path.

• Trevone to Harlyn: Cliff stability issues and surface damaged. This requires diversion of coast

path and reinstatement of surface.

• Trevone: Damage to sea wall and path surface washed out. It requires repairs to sea wall and

reinstatement of surface.

• Trewoon, St Mewan: surface of path damaged which requires resurfacing.

• Watergate Bay: surface of path damaged requiring drainage works and resurfacing.

Widemouth Bay: boardwalk destroyed and fence collapsed which requires reinstatement



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Appendix 2 – Green Infrastructure Impacts

• Bolingey: washed out bridleway which requires drainage works and resurfacing

• Bude Canal: bank slippage and tow path undermined which require repair

• Camel Trail: surface and drainage damage which requires drainage works and resurfacing

• Cardinham: undermined bridge which requires new abutments.

• Carters Grave Lane, Ludgvan: washed out bridleway which requires drainage works and

resurfacing

• Chacewater: washed out bridleway which requires drainage works and resurfacing.

• Gwennap: washed out bridleway which requires drainage works and resurfacing

• Gwithian: washed out bridleway which requires drainage works and resurfacing

• Hayle, Carbis Mill: River bank stability issues which requires rerouting of the path.

• Kea: Bridleway damaged drainage which requires new drainage and damaged bridge which is

currently closed which requires replacement.

• Lewannick: washed out footpath which requires drainage works and resurfacing

• Linkinhorne: boardwalk washed away which requires replacement with new structure

• Luxulyan Valley: damage to leats which requires repairs to prevent flooding.

• Mawgan Porth: washed out footpath which requires drainage works and resurfacing

• Mylor: two washed out footpaths which requires drainage works and resurfacing

• Perranaworthal: washed out bridleway which requires drainage works and resurfacing

• Perranuthnoe: washed out footpath which requires drainage works and resurfacing

• Roche: collapsed culvert on footpath which requires replacement.

• Seaton Valley: damage to boardwalks across the site which requires replacement and new

boardwalks.

• Sithney: two washed out footpaths which require drainage works and resurfacing

• St Agnes: washed out bridleway and footpath which both require drainage works and resurfacing

• St Clement: washed out footpath which requires drainage works and resurfacing

• St Hilary: three washed out bridleways which require drainage works and resurfacing

• St Mawes: Landslip which requires diversion of path into adjacent land.

• St Mawgan: washed out footpath which requires drainage works and resurfacing

• St Minver: two washed out footpaths which require drainage works and resurfacing

• Wendron: two washed out bridleways which require drainage works and resurfacing

Cumulative Impact of Severe Weather in Cornwall: Winter ...€¦ · 2.1 Key Infrastructure Impacts...

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