Pagham fears birds being put before flood defences

The meeting will be arranged by Pagham Parish Council this summer. It will aim to present the facts about the measures needed to protect the vulnerable coastline from flooding.

Concerns have been expressed that wildlife in Pagham Harbour nature reserve is being given precedence over moves to build up the eroding shoreline.

Parish council chairman Cllr Ray Radmall has written to West Sussex County Council to know why a large shingle bank off Pagham Harbour has been fenced off.

The protected area extends some fencing last year which led to little terns doing well there.

But the growing shingle bank is being seen as an ideal source of material to replenish the beach along East and West Front Roads.

Cllr Radmall said it was feared the fencing could rule out that idea.

The calls for a public meeting arose from the recent annual meeting of the Pagham Beach Residents' Association.

"It was a crowded occasion with about 70 people and there was a lot of concern," he told the April meeting of the parish council.

"The recent storms were quite frightening for a few people on the front. They want to thrash things out and see what is happening with the sea defences.

"People are phoning me up and knocking on my door about the matter. But we don't have much more in the way of real information yet. We need the district and the county councils to be talking to each other."

Parish councillor Mike Belman said: "We should have a meeting, probably in June or July. It needs to be as soon as we have something worthwhile to tell people."

The parish council has, meanwhile, strengthened its links with a sea defence pressure group in Selsey. It also has a steering group of community interests in Pagham which meets again next month.

An expert study into the cause of the erosion of the seafront is starting this month. This should report in September about the best way to correct the problem.

It could cost 1m-plus for a solution for which the Environment Agency needs to bid against competing schemes around the country. But even approval could still leave Pagham without any improvements for the 2009 winter.

There is also the need to overcome the range of protections put in place to reflect the reserve's importance to wildlife.