It is a landscape defined by hundreds of years of human intervention. But for the man responsible for overseeing the management of the Broads for a quarter of a century, natural forces will soon have to be allowed to reclaim parts of the landscape.
Dr John Packman, who is about to step down as chief executive of the Broads Authority (BA), has warned climate change is “already biting” in the waterways and that swathes of land will have to be given up to be used as floodplains. To protect homes in the upper reaches from major flooding, areas around Breydon Water and along the Waveney valley and Lower Bure could be reclaimed to help absorb rising water levels from the encroaching North Sea and from rivers breaking their banks.
Parts of the landscape, which Packman says are already gradually sinking, may again start to resemble the vast estuary it was 2,000 years ago, before rivers were rerouted, drainage channels dug and windmills built to pump out the water.
‘Climate change is already biting’
Packman made the comments as part of a wide-ranging interview to mark his departure, in which he reveals what he thinks would be the biggest challenges for his successor, with the threat of climate change among the most significant.
Over the next 100 years, sea levels are predicted to rise by up to a metre, which would put much of the low-lying wetlands underwater. “We cannot stop these changes happening,” says Packman. “It is about how you adapt to it and manage the rate of change and mitigate the impact on the Broads system. Climate change is already biting hard … We are surrounded by flood plains and in the lower reaches of rivers, we will have to give up areas of land so that when there are big flooding events, water has somewhere to go. There will be some things that will be similar to the Roman times.”
Flooding and controversy
The issue of rising water levels on the Broads has been an increasingly pressing one in recent winters, with repeated flooding affecting many riverside villages. There have been flood alerts on the waterways in recent days, underlining the immediacy of the threat, while an incursion of saline water – when sea water is forced into the rivers by a combination of wind and tide conditions – killed thousands of fish last month.
However, the subject has also proved controversial, with some critics blaming the BA and the Environment Agency for the increased flooding, suggesting they should do more to dredge the waterways – particularly a stretch near Great Yarmouth known as the Bure Hump.
But Packman suggests the best way to combat the threat is not through trying to resist or stop it, but to “make space for water”. He suggests the region has much to learn from the Netherlands, where communities are being protected by creating more wetland and floodplain to absorb rising water levels.
Balancing boating and biodiversity
Much of the debate over flooding on the Broads – as well as over other areas of the BA’s work – has been characterised as being between factions representing the organisation’s two conflicting responsibilities: keeping the waterways accessible by boat while also delivering national park duties, such as protecting wildlife and boosting biodiversity.
These two groupings have become known as ‘navvies’ – those who want to see navigational interests put first – and ‘parkies’, those more inclined to support the national park interests. Packman – seen by many as the head of the parkies – accepts there are tensions between the BA’s different responsibilities but dismisses such talk of factions.
“There is a tension between priorities, but I do not buy into the navigation and parkie clash,” he says. “Most people who go boating on the Broads do so as it is a beautiful area, with wildlife and big skies. But it does mean managing the Broads is tricky. People want different things … For example, managing trees and scrubland – sailors want us to cut them all down, but anglers definitely would not want that, and neither would people concerned about nature. We have to try and find compromises so it works for everyone.”
Choosing a successor
Tensions between navvies and parkies have emerged over the process to select Packman’s successor, with navvies worrying the board, which will choose the next chief executive, has too heavy a proportion of parkies. Whoever ends up in the role will face problems beyond the existential one posed by climate change, and Packman warns that funding challenges will also prove increasingly tough. The Broads have faced a steady decline in the number of people boating, leaving the authority with less income from toll fees to support its navigation maintenance. Government cuts have also hit the BA’s bottom line, forcing job losses this past year.
Their heyday as a premier holiday destination may be in decline, but the waterways are still a hugely important part of the tourism economy, generating more than £700m a year.“Boating is becoming less popular, it is a national trend,” he says, adding: “But the good news is that boats are getting cheaper.”
A career shaped by the Broads
The Broads have seen huge changes even since Packman took up his job in 2001. Born in Kent in 1952, he trained as a town planner and went on to secure his first job at Norfolk County Council. He then left for New Zealand, where he took a post at the Ministry of Works and Development in Wellington for 15 months. In 1984, he returned to the UK, where he secured a role at Brighton and Hove City Council, overseeing a major regeneration programme for the city.
After this stint, Packman switched from managing a bustling metropolitan centre to the sprawling waterways of the Broads – a daunting change at first but one that was helped by some sage advice. “A friend of mine told me to think of what would be the worst possible first day as chief executive, then do the opposite,” he says. “Mine would have been stuck in an office not talking to anyone. So instead, I spent the first few days making sure I spoke to as many people as possible and had breakfast with the maintenance staff, lunch with the rangers and then tea with my office colleagues.”
Legacy and future challenges
Since then, Packman has guided the BA through significant upheaval. This includes modernising its operations and taking over the responsibility for navigation maintenance from engineering firm May Gurney in 2007. That change has led to persistent gripes from navvies who claim the private company carried out more dredging, a charge Packman denies, insisting the in-house operation is simply more efficient.
On the national park side, there have been major successes in the BA’s work to boost biodiversity, including growing numbers of marsh harriers and fen raft spiders – the latter a species which was on the brink of extinction but is now thriving in the Broads.
But the outgoing boss is fully aware the overall situation is bleak. “The biodiversity crisis is still with us,” he explains, “and pressure on some species like butterflies and other insects is still grave. We have had some successes, but we are still in a position where nature is under huge pressure.” Dr Packman, who announced his retirement in July, says he will continue into the new year and hand over the reins after his successor has been found in the coming weeks.
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