Man Sues Govt For Not Protecting Him From Sea Rise
By Paul Homewood
h/t Ian Magness
Hot on the heels of the ECHR judgement, we now face the possibility of a rush of silly legal climate cases:
A homeowner who lost his house to coastal erosion is suing the Government for breaching his human rights, in a landmark case following this week’s controversial European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling on climate change.
Kevin Jordan, 70, a former marine engineer, is one of two Britons who claim their human rights have been violated by the failure of the Government to protect them.
The chances of his groundbreaking case succeeding have been boosted by a ruling by the ECHR on Tuesday that governments have a duty to protect people from climate change.
Mr Jordan’s judicial review is due to be considered this summer by the High Court, where judges will take account of previous legal precedents such as the ECHR ruling. It is likely to intensify the political row after MPs accused the ECHR of usurping the role of elected politicians in determining climate change policies.
Mr Jordan said he had “lost everything” as a result of his chalet bungalow in Hemsby, near Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, being demolished last December. It was pulled down by the council after global warming saw the land protecting it from the sea erode at seven times the predicted rate in the 14 years that he lived there.
“I am now what you call a climate refugee. I lost my home with no compensation. I am now in local authority accommodation. My lovely sea views are reduced to a ground floor flat looking at cars going past,” said Mr Jordan, who spent his career designing and developing underwater vehicles.
Lawyers for Friends of the Earth, which is backing his case, claim that the Government’s failure to protect Mr Jordan from the sea is a breach of section 6 of the Human Rights Act, which covers “unlawful” policies by a public authority that damage people’s rights.
Mr Jordan said he had decided to take on the Government after being asked by the Save Hemsby Coastline campaign group, of which he is a trustee, and having his court costs underwritten through a “huge” local fundraising effort. “It was a natural thing for me to do. I am a bit of a climate warrior,” he said.
He said the “warrior” tag fitted Hemsby as marking the “front line” in the battle against global warming. Last year, 12 houses were condemned and demolished after the coast was battered by storm after storm.
In any normal world, this idiot would be sent packing by the court.
The whole idea that governments have a legal duty to protect everybody from the weather is patently absurd.
And as we know, there is no evidence at all that coastal erosion in Norfolk is any worse than in the past. Jordan’s claim that “global warming saw the land protecting it from the sea erode at seven times the predicted rate in the 14 years that he lived there” is baseless. Sea levels are not rising any faster than they were a century ago, and the Met Office admit that storms are no worse either.
What we do know is that coastal erosion was almost stopped in the 1950s, following sea defences being built. In recent years, these have fallen into decay, and erosion has simply returned to former levels.
If Jordan wants to sue somebody, it should be whoever advised him it was OK to buy the house.
But even if global warming is a factor, how big is it? And given that UK emissions are only 1% of the world’s, then clearly anything we do is irrelevant.
Which brings us back to the essence of the case. Jordan and his backers at FoE claim that the government has a duty to protect him from rising seas and storms.
Any proper judge would throw the case out immediately, but there are plenty of left wing, activist judges who could nod this through.
If this happens, it would open the door to all sorts of nutty claims from people who have been affected by floods, storms, snow and every other weather event.
There will only be one winner – the lawyers. And only one loser, the taxpayer.
Final word to the DT commenters:
Comments are closed.
NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT 
I am going to sue for failing to provide me with anti-ageing medication.
Climate Change is causing me to age more quickly.
Well blaming climate change for every weather event is.
I always thought that cliffs were the result of erosion, the softer the terrain the faster the erosion.
Is it April 1st in Hemsby?
It is always April 1st in Hemsby…It is our Groundhog Day!
They are only raising these claims because of the idiotic judgment on Switzerland.
Note GB News had the climate scare and doomonger-in-chief on at lunchtime, talking his usual hysterical bow – llox, on this topic.
https://www.bgs.ac.uk/news/hemsby-coastal-erosion-the-scale-of-the-transformational-challenge-around-the-coastlines-of-england-and-wales/
British Geological Survey:
“On 25 February 2023, Hemsby beach in Norfolk was closed off to the public due to significant coastal erosion. Over the following days, homes and properties on the cliff were evacuated, with some collapsing into the sea because of this loss of land.
The coastal frontage at Hemsby comprises a narrow zone of vegetated sand dunes of very loosely consolidated sand, situated behind a narrow beach. Its weak geology makes the coastline susceptible to this erosion.
Beaches are great natural coastal defences because they act to dissipate wave energy, but at Hemsby, because the beach is so narrow, the erosional susceptibility of the geology is enhanced because of direct wave action on the cliffs. This occurs under both normal tidal and weather conditions and especially during high tides and storms. There is unfortunately a long history of coastal erosion at Hemsby, documented in a wide range of historical (and more modern) accounts.”
Unfortunately they also pay lip service to the rising sea levels mantra: “as sea levels rise and foreshores erode in places, there will be increasing pressure to consider the realignment of the shoreline in some locations.”
Who buys a house built on top of sand dunes? Surprisingly a Marine Engineer…
https://thegeographyteacher.com/hemsby-beach-erosion/
Thank goodness the sane people are out there.
Due to circumstances beyond my control, the wooden upright posts that support the picket fence running alongside the “Stray” opposite my house have rotted and fallen over at a drunken angle- obviously the increased amount of precipitation caused bt the Global Climate Crisis/Emergency/Change has been the major factor – this has spoilt my view, can I sue for loss of quality of life, then sue on behalf of the bugs that lived on the wood for loss of habitat, and what about the dogs, losing their posts where they could leave there mark.
We are living in maddening times, made worse by the pathetic pandering we see going on all around.
FGS, get a grip, the climate is not changing, it is acting normal, we have not been around long enough to appreciate the two extremes- Warm Earth and Snowball Earth, let the ECHR explain that.
I have some sympathy with the man, having seen how serious is coastal erosion in Norfolk.
But ask Hilary Benn if his coastal home is protected from coastal erosion and how did he manage to get funding for it.
Why? I have no sympathy with those who build houses on flood pksibd and then see them flooded and those who build houses in earthquake zones and see them demolished by earthquakes. The planet is restless.
But this man must have known about this coast’s erosion issues before he bought his house – at probably a knock down price.
You know, I think this is very easy for governments to deal with.
Condemn all the homes that are vulnerable to beach erosion and have them torn down. Let the owners try to settle with their insurance companies for the loss. They can take what they get and buy a home or apartment a few miles inland so they are safe.
After reading the above, I returned to the calm, sensible analysis in ‘Climate, History and the Modern World.’ by H. H. Lamb with a palpable sense of relief!
In the case of the ‘climate alarmists’, I am reminded of the ‘Flagellents’, who around the time of the approaching first Millenium, in 1000 AD, travelled around Europe prophesying doom for all, unless everyone repented and undertook acts of self-punishment and torture, in order to avoid the oncoming disaster.
The year 1000 came and went, and the only signal disasters were those visited by people on themselves. As is always the case. And is still very much the same today. Our ability to predict the future, via Bible, Torah or Quran – or via computer simulations using mathematics we don’t understand the limitations of, remains as dangerous and closed as the obsessons in the minds of the Flagellents. Actions based on ‘Belief’ rather than knowledge, brings both science and religion into disrepute. If someone says, ‘I believe’ he is Cain, and all men’s hands should be turned against him!
Sorry Merv but got to get this off my chest. With the other recent post going on about M & S trying to eliminate methane exuding from lactating bovines, have we moved into the territory of Flatulent Flagellents. Boom boom!
Nice one, Ray!
Slightly off topic Merv but I often like to joke about the Guardian and that I wouldn’t even trust it to get the football scores correct. Well I’m a Hull City supporter and I’ve just looked up the table on the Graun which shows Hull as 7th
https://www.theguardian.com/football/championship/table
I thought that can’t be right, and guess what…it isn’t.
https://www.google.com/search?q=championship+table&rlz=1CAYRPB_enGB1096&oq=championship+table&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyDwgAEEUYORiDARixAxiABDINCAEQABiDARixAxiABDINCAIQABiDARixAxiABDINCAMQABiDARixAxiABDINCAQQABiDARixAxiABDINCAUQABiDARixAxiABDINCAYQABiDARixAxiABDIGCAcQRRg80gEINjQ0M2owajeoAgCwAgA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#sie=lg;/g/11kjlxdm9s;2;/m/0355pl;st;fp;1;;;
I can recommend LiveScore. If you’re a dedicated follower from long distance, as I am for St Johnstone, its live updates are extremely good if somewhat depressing since we won the cup double.
https://www.livescore.com/en/
Slightly off topic Merv but I often like to joke about the Guardian and that I wouldn’t even trust it to get the football scores correct. Well I’m a Hull City supporter and I’ve just looked up the table on the Graun which shows Hull as 7th
https://www.theguardian.com/football/championship/table
I thought that can’t be right, and guess what…it isn’t.
https://www.google.com/search?q=championship+table&rlz=1CAYRPB_enGB1096&oq=championship+table&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyDwgAEEUYORiDARixAxiABDINCAEQABiDARixAxiABDINCAIQABiDARixAxiABDINCAMQABiDARixAxiABDINCAQQABiDARixAxiABDINCAUQABiDARixAxiABDINCAYQABiDARixAxiABDIGCAcQRRg80gEINjQ0M2owajeoAgCwAgA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#sie=lg;/g/11kjlxdm9s;2;/m/0355pl;st;fp;1;;;
What a joke this is. He (and Foes of the Earth) are suing the council because his insurers told him to do one. In fact he was never insured for this eventuality which anyone with half a brain would know was going to happen. It’s why he (a marine engineer - really?) was able to buy it for so little in the first place. Evidence? Well just look at the council tax band register for his postcode.
https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/check-council-tax-band/search?postcode=ncEnsX44rzwizNU_Ot-Keg&page=0
Of the 58 properties once council taxed, 46 have been deleted since 1991 because they ain’t there no more…..they’re in the sea mate. The remaining 12 (all landward side of the road) are all Band A on account as they were valued as cheap as chips back then as their days were well known to be numbered.
To paraphrase the late, great George Carlin, it’s a bit like buying a home on the upper slopes of Kilauea and then wondering why your lounge is a boiling lake of lava.
This guy is the ultimate chancer, if he gets away with it (I seriously doubt he will) then the law really is an ass.
Reform must be licking their election lips. I’d be flogging this nonsense for all it’s worth if I were them. Where will it stop? Farmers suing HMG for poor crop harvests?
More about the high cost of fertiliser and chemical bans, I suspect – now that it all at least partly down to the government.
I did listen to a short interview with him on radio 4. He has affiliations with, surprise surprise, Friends of the Earth. When asked where his original estimate of ‘at least a hundred years’ came from it was ‘my mates in the Marine Industry’!! Who knows? Maybe they were experts but doing something for a mate?
I have lived in Norfolk all my life. I attended Great Yarmouth Grammar school some 60 years ago. We actually had academic lessons (!), one of which was geography, and a subject called ‘East Coast Erosion’, where, due to the largely chalk and sandstone formation, we were taught that erosion has always been an issue. We have lost villages over time (https://yarmouthmuseums.wordpress.com/2021/12/14/the-story-of-shipden/), and we were told that in due course, we would lose Hemsby, Winterton (from memory) and other structures as we could not hold back erosion. Needless to say, I can’t remember when the loss of the village was predicted, but it wasn’t centuries. Nothing has changed, regardless of the assertion of worse weather, I’ve not noticed any worsening storms since 1987 when we had the hurricane force winds. Regrettably, the stupidity of our ruling class has indoctrinated many people into believing the hype, it’s gaslighting of the worst type intending to condition the poplulation.
in a landmark case
Wut? Telegraph assumes a lot!
My lovely sea views are reduced to a ground floor flat looking at cars going past
Whah! Whah! Whah!
Gamecock’s first law of appeals to pity: get someone who people could care about.
The Norfolk/Suffolk coast has lost over 20 whole villages over several hundred years. It has been recognised officially, along with the Fens, of being susceptible to flooding by the sea since at least 1981, if not before.
The book ‘Outrageous Waves’ by Basil Cracknell lists 217 whole villages that have been lost to the sea around the coasts of England, Wales and Scotland over the last two millennia. It must be assumed there were many more whose names are not known..
The North Sea coast from Flamborough Head to Kent has lost a total of 66 villages.
Given this history I don’t see his case succeeding.
If you look up on old maps ,https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=5.0&lat=56.00000&lon=-4.00000&layers=1&b=1
You can see where the coastline was for the last 100 to 150 years .And on this linked site you can move a blue slider to see where it is now .
Many places the coast has been eroded by the seas , but in many places has gained land .
So it is not rising sea levels , but tides just moving parts of the cliffs a bit further down the coast. And overall there is probably as much land gained as lost , although in different places .
So perhaps this green loonie should try suing the Moon for causing the tides , because it is nothing to do with climate change etc .
Let him lose his money,
That;s after all what happens when people act stupidly.
He wont find a single statistical support – and coastal erosion is an entirely different matter – sad as his fate may be
My grandfather brought a summer house on the coast between Winterton and Hemsby shortly before WW2. He and his wife used to commute there on the steam train in the spring and back to Norwich in the autumn, enjoying life on the coast during the summers of his retirement. The bungalow was little more than a glorified shed with one bedroom and a living room with a small leantoo containing a sink a small cooker and a couple of cupboards. An outside chemical loo was emptied once a week by the honey cart. He paid a peppercorn rent to land owner. Sometime in the 50s to early 60s the law was changed enabling the purchase of the land but he went senile and never did so. The summerhouse reverted to the land owner when my grandmother died. Most of the “houses” lost to the sea at Hemsby have a similar origin – when originally built it was never imagined that anyone would live there permanently but the law change encourage people to upgrade their primitive summer houses into permanent residences.
Sounds like the “Wise Ma -Foolish Mam” parable….
Look, my daffs were a disaster this year. Where can I pick up the bandwagon?
From where does this “right” spring from? It appears to be completely made up. The state doesn’t have an obligation to protect me and my property from all events caused by nature. This person has had a career and a life made possible and comfortable by fossil fuels. That may or may not have a price via CO2, but there are always trade-offs.
The seas encroached on, and eroded British Isles coastlines at a faster rate during the Minoan [ C. 1450 – 1300 BC ] and Roman Optimums . See Judith Curry’s Climate etc articles and my analysis on Pauls blog posted under : ’The Telegraphs Reputation ….Sinking Beneath the Waves [ a few years ago
Hmmm . ’Seven times the predicted rate “ ? Why not do the calculations pertaining to the East Yorkshire - Holderness shoreline losses ?
Were the ancient Romans and Bronze Age Mediterranean cultures mining and metallurgical emissions or opulent subterranean heated Roman bathhouses to blame for the significantly warmer temperatures and rising seas of the Minoan and Roman Optimums ?
I bet this person also bought his house near the sea for a knockdown price because of the well known coast erosion in this area. He took a gamble- it didn’t work out and now he wants the taxpayer to sub him out.