21/04/2008 04:25:00
General Sir Richard Dannatt has lent his weight to the battle to protect the Norfolk Broads from flooding.
A proposition by environmental organisation Natural England to abandon 25 miles of the Norfolk Broads to the sea has attracted much criticism from locals and conservationists since its announcement in March. The plan would entail sacrificing low-lying areas as far inland as Potter Heigham and Stalham, as well as leaving land between Lowestoft to Felixtowe in Suffolk open to potential flooding.
The Telegraph reports that Sir Richard, the Chief of the General Staff, has announced his intention to defend the nation's largest protected wetland. He referred to the scheme as "a tragedy" and voiced his shock that the area around Horsey was in the heart of the locale at risk.
If coastal erosion were allowed to take place, as one of the plans for the area suggests, the region would lose hundreds of homes to the water - as well as thousands of acres of farmland and some of Norfolk's top wildlife sites. The prominent General owns a farmhouse south of Norwich and has gained a reputation for the unabashed expression of his views since his appointment in 2006.
Speaking to the Eastern daily Press, Sir Richard, said:
"I think it would be a tragedy if we allowed that area to be given up and inundated. To give up a great chunk of Norfolk to the sea without a fight is something I find quite counter-intuitive and quite difficult to do."
The region is the third biggest inland waterway in Britain and is a major tourist attraction. A spokesman for Natural England said that no decision has yet been taken and that they were committed to maintaining the Norfolk coast for the next 50 years.