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
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