Norfolk’s local hero fighting coastal erosion
This article in The Guardian reveals the Big Society at its quirky best, describing Michael Kennedy as the latest sighting of a much-loved species – the Great British Eccentric.
Mr Kennedy has spent 14 years collecting rocks on Hunstanton beach to construct sea walls as a defence against rampant erosion along this stretch of coast.
I think it might be a bit unfair to characterise the man in the excerpt from the article which follows as an eccentric.
In fact, I wonder if government policies which struggle to put a high enough premium on protecting rural coastal settlements with a limited a number of “chimney pots” are not more eccentric?
From time to time I get the opportunity to raise the importance of rural coastal communities and promote a consideration of their unique challenges.
I heard the inspirational story of how a community had achieved super-fast broadband by digging its own fibre cable trenches recently to overcome the connectivity challenges it faces through the graft of local people.
I wonder if we oughtn’t to get a few more people in coastal communities interested in following Michael Kennedy’s approach?
Not that we should let government off the hook on the issue of leading the charge on coastal erosion. But with Liverpool pulling out of the Big Society pilot because it feels government is not providing the right funding climate to make the project work, this highly apposite tale of a local “Canute” does also make me reflect on the limits to individual endeavour in the face of the big challenges communities face.