Outline examples of coastal management strategies in the UK

Coastlines, a dynamic system, must be managed to prevent loss land and property to the sea. The UK features over 12,000km of coastline which in parts is intensely studied and managed. Mostly commonly there are five different basic strategies to managing coastlines, the first being abandonment. This soft engineering, no action, do nothing method is the simplest and cheapest of the five. It is basically letting the coast manage itself over time and is linked to retreating inland, known as managed retreat. This is where an individual property, hamlet or town is resettled further inland till the sea poses a serious risk again, often through collapsing cliffs. Whilst being environmentally and morally friendly it does result in substantial amounts of land being lost. One of the earliest managed retreat strategies in the UK was an area of 0.8 ha at Northey Island, Essex, that flooded in 1991. This was followed by Tollesbury and Orplands, Essex, where the sea walls were breached in 1995. The Hold the Line method ensures that as little material is eroded as possible over time, not only with hard engineering schemes (sea walls, revetments eg Porthcawl) but also soft engineering techniques such as beach nourishment. This is where beach material is redeposited upon the beach from a source outside of its sediment cell. The Move Seaward method is where sea defences are constructed jutting out from the coast, creating new land often for agriculture or larger human settlements for the future. With speculation over rising sea levels due to global warming, man-made or not, has resulted in a decline in its popularity for new and future projects though highly successful in many parts of the world already eg Holland. If an area tries to promote (through human methods) the natural succession of haloseres (saltmarshes, sand-dunes or larger beaches) it is known to have undergone Limited Intervention. These dissipate wave and storm surge energy, protecting the land behind. Since the early 1990s, bough councils and government agencies such as MAFF (now DEFRA) and the Environment Agency have joined forces together to ensure their individual defence methods are not outweighed by a larger loss of land elsewhere. Cost-benefit results in one area may only be acted upon if the results lie with in the overall coastal cost-benefit analysis. This effect can be found in the coastal area surrounding the East Sussex town of Hastings to Winchelsea Beach. The
Tom Jayne 13U1 - Geography - Mr Wilcox

construction of a Pier in the late 1860s and Harbour reconstruction works in the 1890s resulted in a build-up of material (being moved easterly by long-shore drift) on the western side of the pier and harbour. This caused lees deposition at more easterly locations, resulting in reduced dissipation of wave energy and increasing erosion. In turn this caused erosion rates in the village of Fairlight to increase from approx. 0.05m pa to 10m pa. It had a catastrophic effect on local property prices, rendering some properties worthless due to their expiration date. Many homes have since been loosed due to cliff retreat costing local residents 100,000s as well as infrastructure (e.g. water, gas and sewage systems). An artificial reef was therefore constructed upon Fairlights wave cut platform as part of an SMP in the early 1990s to try and promote the growth of a Lagoon with the aim of reducing wave energy. Since then cliff erosion rates have reduced by 90%. The hold the line technique is found at virtually every seaside resort in the UK whether it be as cliff strengthening or sea walls. The south Devon coast features many towns all favouring the HTL technique. Teignmouth, Paignton, Meadstow and Torquay both feature masonry and concrete curved sea walls utilising the splash-back technique to dissipate wave energy. Most places feature a sandy beach at the base of these walls again absorbing wave and storm surge energy, reducing erosion. Thurlestone, Brixham and Beesands also feature seaward rock revetments to aid with the sea walls. The area around Hurst spit features varying methods. At the spit itself, HTL is the prominent technique whereas Naish holiday resort uses the total opposite of Do Nothing. This shows how extreme SMPs can be with certain areas guaranteed protection for more established economically successful areas and others not on the same stretch of coast line. To Summarise, the east coast of the UK features higher rates of erosion due to softer rock types than the south west but HTL isnt always possible due to its very high comparative cost and feasibility in CostBenefit analysis. The south west and west of Wales suffers from strong Atlantic waves, with fetches of up to 2000km but stronger rock types means that coastal management is less prominent than the East.

Tom Jayne 13U1 - Geography - Mr Wilcox