More than 60% of the sailing club's boat park has been swept away by the waves, some dunes are damaged by the sea, more than ten houses are threatened.
explains the mayor of Ambleteuse, a tourist village of 2,000 inhabitants, located between Calais and Boulogne-sur-Mer, affected by the retreat of the coastline. Other towns are also affected such as Wissant (300 m setback from the coastline), Oye-Plage, Tardinghen, etc. where entire housing estates are threatened.
Return to the coastline of the Middle Ages
Since the 2010s, the acceleration in the decline of the sideline has worried elected officials, scientists and citizens of the region. The collapse of a cliff in 2012 at Equihen-plage south of Boulogne-sur-Mer sounded the alarm: the phenomenon was increasing compared to the values estimated at 100 years in the “Coasts” Risk Prevention Plan. at cliffs” from 2007.
We are returning to the coastline of the Middle Ages, due to climate change and the rise in ocean levels since the 19th century. Even if from one coast to another, nothing is the same, as Arnaud Hequette, researcher at the oceanology and geosciences laboratory at the Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale, explains:
In certain places, the coastline is stable, or even advancing, as in the east of Calais where it has advanced 250 m since 1950, due to the stranding of a sandy bank and urbanization.
A national reality
In France, 20% of the French territory is today affected by this reality, i.e. 500 municipalities which must protect their inhabitants and now manage their climate displaced people leaving their homes or farms because of the arrival of the sea.
Solutions to try to save time often involve riprap, a concrete dike or renaturation. For Arnaud Hequette, these slopes are not ideal and it is wise to associate them with re-sanding as in Dunkirk: “The sand helps absorb the swell. »
Brakes to action
But we still need to have the means and administrative authorizations. In 2018, the GEMAPI (Management of aquatic environments and flood prevention) competence of the municipalities was transferred by right to the EPCI (Public Establishment of Intermunicipal Cooperation), i.e. the communities of municipalities.
However, in the text of the Gemapi, maritime erosion is not taken into account. The Gemapi tax paid by citizens only covers the maintenance of the dikes. For the rest, the Communities of Municipalities are not competent.
explains Stéphane Pinto. No one therefore seems to want to take charge of protecting the undammed coastline, where there are houses in particular. What's more, article 33 of the law of 09/16/1807 requires private owners threatened by the sea to ensure the protection of their property themselves.
A grotesque situation with the feeling among certain citizens of Ambleteuse that the Community of Communes of La terre des 2 caps is trying to minimize its responsibilities, despite pressure from the Regional Chamber of Accounts which pushes it to act. For Hélène Boulet of the citizen association for the defense of the Ambleteuse coastline:
We are worried about the retreat of the coastline. The Community of Communes of Terre des 2 Caps does not use its budget to protect us.
Stéphane Pinto is sad: “No solution has been put in place, we are still studying the phenomenon at the EPCI level. » A feeling shared by the mayor of Wissant. Hence the dismay of many coastal residents who feel abandoned, for fear of losing their homes in particular.
Funding sources
And the question of financing is not resolved. If nothing is done, the cost of inaction for housing alone for the French cities affected by the retreat of the coastline is 85 billion euros (source Cerema). Beyond a National Fund called for at the last Congress of Mayors, other avenues exist: tourist tax, European funds, transfer taxes or eco-tax for cars. For Stéphane Pinto, in Nord-Pas-de-Calais, we must also have a collective vision, to best manage this problem from Dunkirk to Boulogne.
While waiting for the release of funds and the start of the government's Adaptation Plan, researchers from the University of the Coast are today working on the evolution of the coastline over 50 years, with the Cosaco project: mapping accessible to all, showing the evolution of the seaside, with solutions to be found.
To find out more
Watch the Voix du Nord / RCF Hauts de France debate with Stéphane Pinto, mayor of Ambleteuse, and Arnaud Hequette, researcher at the University of the Littoral, in the Commune Planète Hauts de France program “The coastline of Nord-Pas-de-Calais facing the challenge of the receding coastline” in podcast and on You Tube, hosted by Raphaëlle Remande from Voix du Nord and Anne Henry from RCF Hauts de France.
