79 - North East Norfolk and Flegg : Summary and Headline Statements of Environmental Opportunity

Summary

The North East Norfolk and Flegg National Character Area (NCA) slopes gently from west to east and is divided into three parts interspersed by The Broads National Character Area (NCA). Inland it is a rich agricultural area with small-to-medium-scale fields, and is mainly unwooded. Isolated farmsteads and small nucleated villages with large medieval churches are linked by a dense network of lanes.

The coast is a prominent feature of the NCA. In the north, the coast is fringed with soft sediment cliffs that are naturally eroding inland, especially at Happisburgh. These soft cliffs have internationally important geological exposures and also a range of important soft cliff habitats. The oldest fossilised human footprints ever found in Europe and more than 800,000 years old, were discovered here in 2013. Maritime cliff grassland is present along this section of the coast, particularly at Mundesley. Dune habitats are also present further south, with associated dune grassland habitats and dune scrub. The Scroby Sands Wind Farm that lies off Great Yarmouth provides a backdrop to coastal views in the south, and in the north the Bacton Gas Terminal is a dominant feature on the coast. There are four international nature conservation designations, a National Nature Reserve and a Ramsar site.

The NCA extends from the seaside resorts of Gorleston-on-Sea in the south along to Winterton-on-Sea, and from Happisburgh along to Mundesley in the north. A small area south-east of Mundesley is part of the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. To the north-west lies the principal market town of North Walsham which, with its neighbouring village of Worstead, has a Flemish influence and is built with flint and red brick, with roofs of Norfolk reed thatch or pantiles. The 14th-century ‘wool churches’ are testament to the historic prosperity of the textile and weaving industry. To the south-west are the enlarged commuter villages of Brundall and Blofield close to the City of Norwich and the market town of Acle further east at the edge of the Broads.

In the east the area known as Flegg encompasses the urban coastal town and tourist resort of Great Yarmouth, England’s energy port, and the tourist centres of Caistor-on-Sea and Hemsby and their associated extensive caravan and chalet holiday parks that align the coast. The three sections of the NCA are linked together by the rivers Yare, Bure, Ant and Thurne and strategic rail and road routes.

Allowing natural processes to occur along the coast, where appropriate, while providing protection from flooding, is an ongoing challenge.

Headline Statements of Environmental Opportunity (SEO)

See the Statements of Environmental Opportunity section for more details on the headlines listed below.

SEO 1

Conserve, enhance and manage the nationally significant coastal landscape, including that within the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, by implementing strategies to adapt to coastal change and sea level rise that are consistent with the current Kelling Hard to Lowestoft Ness Shoreline Management Plan (2012). Work with coastal processes as far as possible, while enhancing people’s enjoyment of the area, through improving its unique assemblage of coastal habitats with their geological and historical importance and through improving and increasing opportunities for sustainably managed access to support recreation and education.

SEO 2

Seek opportunities to increase the quantity and quality of semi-natural habitat mosaics and geodiversity sites and to enhance historic landscape character and its resilience to climate change, while providing additional benefits for access and recreation for local communities and visitors – thereby enhancing their experience by increasing understanding and improving the local economy.

SEO 3

Work with the local farming community to safeguard future food production, while maintaining and enhancing the historic landscape character with its patchwork field system and hedges; enhancing biodiversity (especially in arable margins and hedgerows), geodiversity, water quality and availability, pollination and soil quality; managing soil erosion; conserving heritage features and assets; and addressing the impacts of climate change.

SEO 4

Encourage measures that enhance existing settlements and the design and location of new developments and infrastructure that can adapt to coastal change, limited water availability, and encompass green infrastructure, yet maintain traditional Norfolk character and conserve and enhance historic features and archaeology, geodiversity and biodiversity.