Landslide management in the UK--the problem of managing hazards in a 'low-risk' environment

Original Paper

Landslides (2013) 10:599610 DOI 10.1007/s10346-012-0346-4 Received: 7 July 2010Accepted: 6 July 2012Published online: 21 August 2012 Springer-Verlag 2012

A. D. Gibson I M. G. Culshaw I C. Dashwood I C. V. L. Pennington

Landslide management in the UKthe problem of managing hazards in a low-risk environment

Abstract The UK is a country with limited direct experience of natural disasters. Whilst landslide losses are not negligible and fatalities are rare, accounts are under-reported. Financial losses from landslides are poorly understood but likely to be considerably in excess of 10 million per year. As a result, a strategic management framework has evolved based upon small, low-impact events punctuated by occasional larger events or larger landslides affecting urban areas. We present an overview of the different landslide management mechanisms in the UK and discuss them in context of cases studies to explore their effectiveness. We conclude with three issues that may have implications for landslide management in the UK and other low-risk countries. Firstly, the evidence base by which landslide hazards and risks are measured is insufficient and limitations in existing information need to be better understood. Secondly, existing guidance on strategic and responsive management needs to be assessed for its fitness for purpose. Thirdly, we encourage debate about the importance of near misses.

Keywords Management . Land-use planning . Responsive planning . Near misses

Geohazards and landslide hazards in the UKIn an international context, the UK is relatively unaffected by major disasters. The country is seismically stable, contains no active volcanoes and due to a temperate climate, has few problems with droughts or wildfires. Economically, storms and flooding are the most significant hydro-meteorological hazards. For example, the floods of JuneJuly 2006 that affected areas of England and Wales caused 4 billion of damage comprising 3 billion in insurance claims (Pitt 2008) and about 1 billion in further costs (Chatterton et al. 2010). However, flood events are not regular and only affect vulnerable floodplain and coastal areas. Swelling, and particularly shrinkage, of clay soils are believed to cause the largest ongoing financial losses of any ground condition, predominantly in the highly populated southeast of the country (Culshaw and Harrison 2010) but do not cause injury or loss of life.

Information on the real impact of these...