Coastal management Coastal management

Coastal management

The four options

Coastal management Coastal management

Shoreline Management Plans (SMPs)

• SMPs were introduced by the government in

1995

• SMPs are an approach to coastal

management that involves all stake-holders

in making decisions about how coastal

erosion and coastal flood risk should be

managed

• They aim to balance economic, social and

environmental needs and pressures at the

coast

• Before SMPs, coasts were often managed in

a ‘piecemeal’ way, leading to problems and

conflicts

Groynes like these at Hornsea can have an impact further down the coast. SMPs aim to consider these

wider impacts before defences are built.

Coastal management Coastal management

England and Wales SMPs • There are 22 SMPs in England and

Wales

• They are numbered clockwise from the

northeast of England

• Each SMP manages an integrated

stretch of coast

• The SMP areas operate as a ‘coastal

unit’ with physical processes such as

longshore drift linking together

different places along the coast

• SMPs are managed by Coastal

Groups, made up of local councils and

the Environment Agency

SMPs along the east coast of England

Coastal management Coastal management

SMP2: The Tyne to Flamborough Head

• SMP2 illustrates how the process works

• Seven council areas have to cooperate

over the management of SMP2

• Scarborough Borough Council is the

‘lead authority’

• The stretch of coast (red line on map)

includes large urban areas (Sunderland

and Redcar), small coastal communities

(Filey, Whitby) and important habitats

(the Tees estuary) as well as very

varied geology.

http://www.northeastsmp2.org.uk/finalSMP2.htm

Coastal management Coastal management

Coastal management options

• DEFRA (the Department for Environment

Food and Rural Affairs) provides some

money for protection against coastal erosion

and flooding

• DEFRA money is provided through the

Environment Agency, which works with all

Coastal Groups on their SMPs

• Coastal Groups decide which of the four

strategies in the table will be used on a

particular part of their SMP

• Decisions about which strategy to use take

into account the views of all stakeholders

• This does not mean that all stakeholders will

be happy with the decision

Four coastal management strategies

No active interventionNo planned investment in defending against flooding or erosion, whether or not an artificial defence has existed previously (sometimes called ‘do nothing’)

Hold the lineBuild or maintain artificial defences so that the position of the shoreline remains. Sometimes the type of defence may change to achieve this result

Managed realignment Allowing the shoreline to move naturally, but managing the process to direct it in certain areas. This is usually done in low-lying areas, but may occasionally apply to cliffs

Advance the lineNew defences are built on the seaward side

Coastal management Coastal management

No active intervention• This strategy ‘lets nature take its

course’.

• Erosion and coastal flooding occur

and cliff lines gradually retreat

• It is often used when coastal land is

of low value, for instance farm land,

or when only a few properties are

threatened with erosion

• It can also be used when rates of

erosion are rapid and the engineering

challenge of defending the coast is

too greatA collapsed road at Aldbrough on the

Holderness Coast. No coastal defences have been, or will be, built here

Coastal management Coastal management

Managed realignment • This option is a half-way house between

holding the line and doing nothing

• Coast lines are allowed to erode/flood,

but gradually

• Some defences might be constructed in

the future to prevent continuous loss of

land or extensive flooding

• A famous example of managed

realignment is Spurn Head spit at the

southern tip of the Holderness Coast

• The plan is to allow the spit to erode

but move inland over time, intervening

to prevent it being breached by the sea

Map showing the possible future position (red line) of Spurn Head spit as it erodes west, towards the land. Defences could

be built to prevent a breach

Coastal management Coastal management

Hold the line• This strategy is used when coasts

are deemed ‘high value’

• The value could be due to urban

development and industry

• In some cases rare ecosystems

might be protected in this way

• The line is held using engineering,

usually hard defences

• This strategy could be temporary in

some places, as rising sea levels

may make it impossibly expensive

to maintain in 50 or 100 years time

A large traditional (vertical face) sea wall in Colombo, Sri Lanka

Coastal management Coastal management

Advance the line• This strategy is very rare in the UK

• It involves building defences out to

sea – effectively creating new land

• It is very expensive

• It is also likely to be affected by

future sea-level rise, so defences

built today would need to be raised

and improved in the future

A view of a Palm Jumeirah in Dubai in 2008. This artificial island was open sea in the Persian Gulf before construction began in 2001