Political Influences

A Landscape in Flux

To the casual visitor, the Sid Valley appears as a timeless masterpiece, a picturesque slice of the English coast but the reality is that it is a landscape in a state of restless transition. The deep red Triassic sandstone—the foundational bedrock of our valley—dates back over 200 million years, yet it is often eclipsed by the more famous "Jurassic Coast" branding. These crumbling cliffs and the steep catchment topography are not just scenery; they are the result of geomorphological processes that have operated over deep time.However, we are currently witnessing a seismic shift in how this landscape evolves. We have moved from being mere observers of these ancient forces to becoming the primary architects of the valley’s physical reality. The "lived-in" environment of Sidmouth is no longer shaped solely by the elements, but by the complex interplay of human intention and natural resistance.

Humans are the New "Evolutionary Force"

For most of the Sid Valley’s history, its configuration was dictated by geology and climate. The steepness of the catchment and the reactive nature of its hydrology were the primary "authors" of the terrain. Today, we have entered the Anthropocene, where the dominant evolutionary force is human decision-making.

This represents a profound shift in responsibility. When we view nature as an external force, a cliff fall or a flood is an "act of God" but when we recognize ourselves as architects, these events often reveal the failures of our own policy and spatial management. If the landscape is a product of our management, then its "natural" disasters are often architectural flaws in our socio-ecological design.

Reflecting on the influences that have shaped our world, we must acknowledge that our history in the valley has been a series of deliberate interventions. As we conclude this exploration of our local environment:

"In this series exploring the natural environment of Sidmouth and the Sid Valley we have considered some of the key influences that have shaped our part of the world and how those influences may impact the town and valley in the future."

The Paradox of "Freezing" Nature

There is a fundamental tension in the Sid Valley between the human desire for stasis and the ecological necessity of dynamism. We often strive to "freeze" the landscape—protecting clifftops, maintaining coastal promenades, and securing property boundaries. This creates a curated aesthetic: a "pretty" view that many mistake for a healthy environment.

However, from a geographer’s perspective, a "frozen" landscape is often a stagnant one. Natural processes such as coastal erosion and the re-meandering of the river are the very mechanisms that create habitat diversity and maintain ecological health. By prioritising the "tidiness" of a static coastline, we fight the geomorphological processes that formed the valley in the first place. We must confront the irony that our efforts to "save" the scenery often result in an ecologically dead environment.

Environment is an Economic and Political Choice

The state of the Sid Valley is dictated less by biology and more by what one might call the "Triad of Contemporary Drivers." These frameworks determine the physical reality of our catchment:

• Political Policy and Statutory Frameworks:  Land use is not organic; it is a legal output. Statutory planning laws, environmental acts, and agricultural subsidies dictate exactly what is permitted to grow and where the "wild" is allowed to exist.

• Economic Pressures:  The "visitor economy" demands certain vistas, while high property values necessitate expensive climate-adaptation infrastructure. Conservation is rarely a pure biological pursuit; it is a funded mandate, often limited by the bank balance of local and national authorities.

• Social and Civic Dynamics:  The collective psyche of the community acts as a physical force on the land. The cultural preference for "managed" beauty versus the burgeoning movement toward "wilding" determines whether a habitat is allowed to breathe or is pruned into submission.

The Eternal Struggle Against Woodland

The "natural" state of the Sid Valley is not the open, rolling green hills we see in postcards. Left to its own devices, the valley would undergo natural succession, eventually returning to its climax state: dense woodland. The vistas we value are actually the result of arresting succession to maintain specific platforms that suit human needs.

This is where politics meets ecology. We utilise agricultural subsidies and manual intervention to halt the encroachment of forest, keeping the landscape "open" for the sake of the economy and traditional aesthetics. The town and the river we love exist in a state of perpetual conflict with the natural world’s tendency toward succession. Our landscape is not a stable entity; it is a fragile, high-maintenance truce.

The Path Forward

The Sid Valley is a complex, linked socio-ecological system where hydrology and geomorphology are inextricably tied to commercial and civic forces. We can no longer afford to view "the environment" as something separate from our political and economic systems.

The path forward requires us to align our statutory frameworks with the reality of a dynamic planet. We are faced with a definitive choice: do we continue to spend vast sums of capital to "freeze" an increasingly reactive landscape, or do we adapt our infrastructure to accommodate natural change? The net balance between ecological degradation and habitat recovery depends entirely on our willingness to stop fighting the very processes that give the Sid Valley its life.