The Holderness coastline is the fastest eroding coastline in Europe. There are many socio-economic and physical consequences of erosion on the Holderness coast. Mr Cross bought a property in Barmston, a seaside village on the Holderness coastline. He brought a property 11 years ago and at the time it was around 40/50 yards from cliff edge and now this has changed to about 20 yards. This is due to the undercutting of the cliff from the waves causing the cliff to collapse; this is a physical consequence of the erosion. Socio-economically this will affect people like Mr Cross as they are left in fear of losing their homes and becoming homeless and they are left with no money for the house because insurance companies won’t be able to fund you for the loss. Electricity pipes are also pointing out of the boulder clay by Barmston this is because they were connected to houses further down the coast but now they have all fallen in. Physically this may also affect wildlife in the area. These people would have had to find new homes and find the money to fund them. They also may have had to find a new area and this could cause problems for the economically active if they now have to find different ways to travel to work. Sue Earle owns a farm around a km away from hard engineering strategies. Rock groynes have been put out to sea to trap sediment however further south this has caused huge consequences as there is no deposition and it has caused erosion rates to increase. Erosion rates have increased from eroding 3feet a year to 30feet. The clay at the bottom of the cliff is eroding and the farm and house are under threat of slumping and sliding of the cliff causing physical consequences of the erosion. The dairy had to be destroyed as well as crops and they are now unable to graze the animals. This has caused Sue to have to sell the farm, as they can’t afford to build a new dairy. This is a large physical impact as farmland is being destroyed and the defences are causing larger consequences elsewhere. Sue will also lose her business, which is a large economic consequence, as she will have no money to pay for a new house when her house eventually falls into the sea, as the insurance companies won’t pay for it. Socially the consequences are also quite large as the psychologically damage caused by the loss of her house and job will be huge. The Holderness coastline erosion is also putting tourism under threat as the coastline is retreating. Caravan parks and sea side resorts are under threat due to the erosion and this could cause tourism to decrease as people my be out off by this, this would therefore lose money for the economy and socially may lead to people having to find other places to go on holiday. However tourism could increase in the area due to people wanting to come and look at the coastal erosion, this may be a tourist attraction to some people. In Easington erosion is a big problem for businesses. The gas terminal purifies gas and at its busiest a quarter of Britain’s gas goes through this site, as it is closest to the gas field. North sea gas is at risk as it is only 12 metres from the fence. Economically this is a very important consequence, as it will cause the business to decline as the amount supplied will decrease and potentially cause inflation.
Looking at the consequences of coastal erosion socio-economic impacts are probably of a larger impact as they affect the livelihoods of people’s lives and their homes and jobs whereas the physical factors mainly affect wildlife and the mass movement however some may disagree.