An Essex seaside resort dubbed Britain's "most deprived town" could end up under water if nothing is done to tackle the threat of severe flooding, say locals.
Jaywick, which featured in a controversial Channel 5 documentary, has faced its fair share of challenges including drugs and alcohol issues, regular fly-tipping and, earlier this year, an outbreak of canine parvovirus that killed at least a dozen dogs.
But now there are fears the town - and potentially people - could be lost to flooding.
Local councillor Dan Casey told The Express said he is terrified Jaywick's flood defences will fail.
In 2013, water came within two and half centimetres of topping the sea wall.
The independent councillor said: “In 1953 we lost 35 people through the floods down here and if it came across the wall now there’s a lot more people that live down there, so I’d hate to even think [about it] and I just hope that day never comes.”
Cllr Casey, who represents West Clacton and Jaywick Sands, added that properties in some areas of the town, such as Brooklands on the seafront, are not designed for flooding.
Writing on his website he said: “We’ve still got the same housing in the Brooklands area which is now basically 70, 80, 90 years old and, how would you say, they’re not really flood resilient and we live in a flood plain.
“You’ve got to look at what you’re going to do about the housing.”
Jaywick was once a buzzing seaside town but has been plagued by problems in recent years, so much so it caught the attention of TV producers and even Donald Trump.
The documentary Benefits by the Sea - described by some critics as 'poverty porn' - saw a TV crew followed various jobless claimants and featured characters such as a pregnant heroin addict and a woman with confused.com tattooed on her forehead.
Jaywick then garnered unwanted global fame in 2018 after it was used in a pro-Donald Trump political campaign to warn voters of “what could happen without choosing him”.
Then, earlier this year, the town, which has topped a number of 'most deprived' places to live lists, was hit by the outbreak of canine parvovirus.
According local resident Maria Revell this was down to a lack of dog poo bins.
Maria and her small group of helpers regularly clean the town's streets for free, despite the fact she suffers from fibromyalgia, a condition that causes fatigue and debilitating muscle pain.
Maria said fly-tipping was a massive problem in the area.
“The fly-tipping is phenomenal. There’ll go into someone’s garden where it’s empty and they’ll put a sofa [in there] and then another sofa appears, and I can’t do [anything about] that now, but why should we live round that?”
But Maria believes the area has dramatically improved over the past three years, adding that the spirit of the people is "phenomenal".
Cllr Mark Stephenson, Leader of Tendring District Council, agreed, adding: "Jaywick Sands inbeautiful area, with an amazing community spirit, and is a place we are proud of here in Tendring – and we take our commitment to it very seriously.
“While it is fair to say there are challenges, Jaywick Sands is also full of opportunity which we are helping local people to realise and benefit from.
“Examples include us building ten new flood-resilient council homes, to show development can be done in a way which recognises the flood risk, bringing private roads up to a decent standard, and our new Sunspot covered market and commercial workspace development, due to open this summer.
“We already have a number of tenants lined up for this space, which will help to bring jobs and further investment. The Essex Pedal Power project has also seen hundreds of bikes given free to local residents to help them get to jobs further afield.
“We’re also just starting on our new Healthy Homes initiative for the area, a £900,000 three-year project which has brought a dedicated team into Jaywick Sands to help improve the quality of housing for existing tenants, look at ways of cleaning up and tackling fly-tipping and bringing open spaces under community stewardship.
“With such a strong community spirit, we are working with residents to bring about change to give them ownership of the area; this is how we will realise long-term potential and tackle the small minority who, disappointingly, feel it is acceptable to fly-tip or to let their dogs foul - there is no excuse for such behaviour.
“For example we provide community litter picking groups with free bags, pickers and disposal of collected material, helping to empower local people to be proud of where they live.”
Meanwhile, the Government has started work on a £10million flood defence scheme that is designed to protect the Essex coast, including Jaywick, from life-threatening flooding. The new flood defence will seek to improve the existing measures in place.
John Lindsay, Essex's coastal engineer for the Environment Agency, said: “We are already seeing the impacts of climate change in the UK and around the world. This is why urgent action is needed to adapt to the effect of the climate emergency. The work at Cockett Wick will help to continue to protect the local communities for decades to come."
