AGENDA ITEM 6

BOROUGH OF POOLE

ENVIRONMENT OVERVIEW & SCRUTINY COMMITTEE

23 JULY 2009

REPORT OF THE HEAD OF LEISURE SERVICES

SHORELINE MANAGEMENT PLAN

REVIEW (SMP2)

1  / Purpose and Policy Context
1.1  / To inform members of the publication of the revised Shoreline Management Plan. A draft plan is due to be released in August 2009 and a final plan in March 2010.
2  / Decision Required
2.1  / Members are recommended to:
Note that the draft document will be going out to public consultation and acknowledge that the final document will be reported back to this Committee seeking recommendation for adoption by the Council.
3  / Information
3.1  / SMPs outline the strategy for sustainable coastal defence. These plans provide details on a wide range of issues relating to coastal processes, the natural environment, coastal defence needs and current and future land use. It will be a requirement of the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) that maritime authorities, when considering future coast protection or sea defence schemes, work to the strategies set out in the SMP.
3.2  / The SMP is not a statutory document, but it will be required to be adopted by Coast Protection Authorities such as the Borough of Poole. Any future coast protection schemes will first have to be identified in the SMP before Grant Aid is awarded by Defra and the Environment Agency to the scheme.
3.3  / The Poole and Christchurch Bays SMP covers the length of coastline between Durlston Head and Hurst Spit. It is supported and funded by the following organisations:
Borough of Poole
Bournemouth Borough Council (Lead Authority)
Christchurch Borough Council
Purbeck District Council
New Forest District Council
Environment Agency
3.4  / The first Poole & Christchurch Bay SMP (SMP 1) was produced in 1999 and since then significant progress has been made in understanding and mapping coastal processes.
SMP1 was an innovative step forward towards sustainable management of our coast and the need for long-term strategic planning but it is now due for review to ensure full account is taken of latest information and future challenges.
Guided and funded by Defra SMP2 will put greater emphasis on:
Improved links with the planning system.
Greater consideration of the effects on the environment.
Longer term coastal policies over a 100 year period.
Greater need to ensure stakeholders have the opportunity to be fully involved in the review.
4  / Proposal or Options
4.1  / SMP Main Objectives
1.  To set out the risks of coastal flooding & erosion for Poole & Christchurch Bays and Harbours over the next 100 years.
2.  To identify preferred policies for managing those risks, and the consequences of putting them into practice.
3.  To inform others in order that future land use takes account of the risks.
Due to current legislative and funding arrangements, climate change and other environmental considerations, it may not be possible to defend, or continue to defend land or property from flooding or erosion.
It is therefore vital that all those with an interest in this length of coast become aware that the SMP review process is underway, understand the implications, and are able to communicate to the Council the information they feel needs to be considered.
4.2  / For the purpose of the SMP the whole length coastline is divided into management units.
The SMP review will set coastal defence policies for three time ‘epochs’:
0 to 20 years short term
20 to 50 years medium term
50 to 100 years long term
For each of these time spans the SMP review will identify one of four shoreline management policies for each Management Unit.
Shoreline Management Policy options:
No active intervention (do nothing) - meaning no investment will be made in coastal defences or other operations other than for safety purposes.
Hold the existing line - which means the relevant maritime authority will keep the line of defence as it is by maintaining existing defences or changing the standard of protection.
Advance the line - involves building new defences on the seaward side of existing defences.
Managed realignment - allows natural physical processes to act on a stretch of shoreline by the removal of existing defences altogether or moving them to higher ground.
4.3  / Programme of Work
The workflow is defined by Defra SMP Guidelines, and has 6 key stages. The programme below was reviewed May 2009:
Stage / End date / Description
1 / Dec 2008 / Scope the SMP
May 2009 / Additional Investigations
2 / June 2009 / Assessments to support policy development
Milestone - Objectives defined
3 / July 2009 / Policy Development
Milestone - Preferred scenario confirmed
Milestone - Draft SMP2 produced
4 / Aug 2009 / Public examination
5 / Feb 2010 / Finalise plan
Milestone - Action Plan finalised
Milestone - SMP2 finalised
6 / March 2010 / Plan dissemination
Milestone - SMP2 published
5  / Financial Implications
5.1  / Bournemouth Borough Council have worked on behalf of the group as the administrators on all of the SMP applications for grant aid for Defra funding.
Bournemouth have secured 100% grant aid from Defra via the Environment Agency to complete the project.
The consultant Royal Haskoning tendered for and won the contract to undertake the works.
There are no financial implications for Borough of Poole at this stage.
6  / Legal Implications
6.1  / SMP's have been adopted as national good practice by operating authorities around the whole coastline of England and Wales, even though they are not backed by any legal or statutory requirement. They draw on and take account of current local and structure plans produced by District, Borough and County Councils, and provide essential feedback at the review stages of such plans. SMP partners are participating in the development of new planning guidance for the Regions of England and Wales.
6.2  / Individuals and some private organisations have rights or powers to protect their own property, although under existing laws permission is needed before work can be carried out. On many coasts there are lengths of coastal defences that are privately owned and maintained. SMPs will
help people to understand the relationship between any private defences and the risks elsewhere (for example, the wider community). This will provide evidence for authorities when considering any application to introduce new or amended defences.
7  / Policy Implications
Once adopted the option selected for each length of Management unit will become Council policy.
8  / Staffing Implications
Leisure Services staff are working in partnership with the staff from the other authorities and the Environment Agency to produce this document.
9  / Promoting Equalities and Respecting Diversity
No issues have been identified.
10  / Environmental Impact
An assessment of the environmental effects of all policies will be made before deciding which policy to adopt in the SMP. This will consider both positive and negative effects of options on ‘biodiversity’ (wildlife and habitats), populations, people’s health, soil, water, air, climate factors,
landscape, cultural heritage and the relationship between these.
11  / Risk Assessment
A major objective of the Plan is to reduce the risk to people and the developed and natural environment from flooding and coastal erosion by the provision of technically, environmentally and economically sound and sustainable defence measures.
The Borough of Poole should not be exposed to an increase in risk.
12  / Conclusion
12.1  / The SMP approach ensures that current knowledge of coastal processes and issues are fully taken account of and avoids the implementation of piecemeal attempts to protect one area at the expense of another.
12.2  / Further information can be found at the websitehttp://www.twobays.net/index.htm

CLIVE SMITH

HEAD OF LEISURE SERVICES

Contact Officers:

David Robson – (01202) 261330

Background Papers:

Poole and Christchurch Bay Shoreline Management Plan.

October 1999

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