5 Comments
Jan 5Liked by Daniel Timms

I like the idea and I think the location is great (I live in Sheffield).

However, I’ve had a similar, but more extensive idea for some time now. Do what you suggest near Retford but do it in, or close to, some of our least historic, and often struggling, seaside towns. I’m talking about places like Blackpool/Fleetwood, Skegness and Rhyl etc rather than Whitby, Brighton and Llandudno.

Let’s focus on getting some of our newer resorts, those that can’t rely on their history to bring in visitors, a much greater diverse economy. Being located on the coast means access to ports should be quick and easy and the extra tax revenue from new industries and housing should help pay for the inevitable sea defences that are going to be needed in the future. I would like to see at least a doubling of the population of these areas within 10 to 15 years of such a scheme being implemented.

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Thanks Andrew. Coastal settlements are a big challenge! John P. Houghton has done some interesting work on how they can be revived: https://medium.com/@MetLines/solving-the-riddle-of-the-sands-1-2-3277f2ee31c2

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Presumably much of the time the new city will be underwater from Trent floods

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Thanks Hugh, but no - most of it is out of flood zone 3 (highest risk area). It's no higher risk than e.g. Nottingham. We've always built cities next to major rivers for reasons of having a sustainable water supply. The flood risk would have to be managed, of course, but again starting from scratch allows you to do this well - including parkland areas by the river for flood attenuation, and building so-called "sustainable urban drainage solutions" (SUDS) into neighbourhoods.

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Point taken.

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