PAPER D
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ENVIRONMENT AND
TRANSPORT SELECT COMMITTEE – 4 MARCH 2005 MANAGING COASTAL RISK –
THE SHORELINE MANAGEMENT PROCESS REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO
HOLDER FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, ENVIRONMENT AND PLANNING POLICY |
Management of the increasing levels of risk posed by
the predicted impacts of climate change represent a major challenge for the
Isle of Wight Council with its long and problematic coastline. A presentation to the Select Committee last
year provoked considerable discussion with the request that a further paper
should be brought to the Committee when more information was available on the
development of the updated Isle of Wight Coast Shoreline Management Plan (SMP)
together with other coastal risk-related issues.
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ACTION REQUIRED BY THE
SELECT COMMITTEE i.
To
receive a presentation from the Coastal Manager in order to inform the Select
Committee of how coastal risks are managed on the Isle of Wight looking ahead
for the next one hundred years. ii.
To
note the consultative processes relating to the SMP following national
trials. iii.
To
support the development of the Shoreline Management Plan with a
recommendation to the Executive that an application for coast protection
grant aid be submitted to Defra. |
BACKGROUND
Members of the Select Committee may recall from the
previous presentation by the Coastal Manager in August 2004 that risks may be
posed to users of the Isle of Wight coastal zone because of the problems
arising from the soft rock geology and dynamic coastal processes including
marine erosion, ground instability and flooding by the sea. The relationship between human activity and
coastal hazards will be illustrated in the accompanying presentation. Current levels of risk are likely to increase,
first, through greater human activity and development in coastal areas and,
second, as a result of the predicted impacts of climate change.
Flooding by the sea presents risks along parts of the
northern coastline of the Island, and within its estuaries, although this issue
is addressed primarily by the Environment Agency. In line with government guidance the Council’s Centre for the
Coastal Environment has been developing a risk-based approach to management of
the coastline. It is important to remember
that with a coastal length of 110km the Isle of Wight has the longest coastline
of any Coast Protection Authority in England and Wales.
The risk-based approach adopted on the Island follows
government guidance prepared by Defra.
The risk management tool is the Shoreline Management Plan which provides
an assessment of those risks associated with coastal processes and allows the
development of a policy framework to reduce risks to people and the developed,
historic and natural environments in a sustainable manner. The Shoreline Management Plan aims to
achieve this by :
·
avoiding inappropriate
development in vulnerable areas through informing the planning system;
·
reducing the likelihood
of loss of life and property along the coast through effective coastal
engineering measures;
·
the provision of suitable
flood and landslide warning systems where appropriate;
The first Isle of Wight Coast SMP was completed in
1997. In particular the Shoreline
Management Plan aimed to :
·
define the risks to
people and the developed, historic and natural environments;
·
identify the preferred
policies for managing the risks around the coastline;
·
identify the consequences
of implementing the preferred policies;
·
ensure that future land
use and development of the shoreline takes due account of the risks involved;
·
comply with international
and national nature conservation legislation and biodiversity obligations.
The Shoreline Management plan, which was grant aided
by Defra, is scheduled for updating.
Defra is developing detailed guidelines on how the updated shoreline
management plans should be prepared and adherence to these conditions provides
the basis for obtaining grant aid. The
updated SMP for the Isle of Wight is due to commence later in the spring.
The key issue is that the Isle of Wight has a dynamic
coastline which is affected by a range of natural processes. These processes are likely to speed up in
the future as a result of climate change.
It is vital, therefore, that we have a thorough understanding of natural
coastal processes and how the coastline is likely to evolve in order to advise
the statutory planning system.
A great deal of work has been undertaken to assist
this process. This includes a national
study called ‘Futurecoast’ commissioned by Defra, which brings together a
wealth of information in relation to long term coastal evolution and
change. More locally, the coastal group
SCOPAC commissioned a detailed ‘Sediment transport study for central southern England’,
which has just been published. On the
Isle of Wight Defra has grant-aided the development of a coastal evolution and
risk mapping study taking advantage of new technology and the use of
successions of historic aerial photographs to illustrate accurately, for the
first time, precisely the rates of coastal change. All these sources of information will be used to ensure that we
have the best possible long term plan for the Isle of Wight.
A significant change compared with the first SMP is
that we are now required to examine the risk framework looking ahead for a one
hundred year timescale instead of fifty years.
This is a long time to look ahead and, therefore, Defra requires coastal
issues to be examined over three time epochs – 0-20 years, 20-50 years and
50-100 years. Policies with respect to
coastal defence may change over that particular period depending on the nature
of coastal defences, the impacts of climate change and other
considerations.
In order to develop the SMP the coastline will be
divided into a number of natural sub-divisions or units. The wider sub-divisions comprise ‘sub-cells’
which are sections of the coastline where the natural processes of coastal
erosion, sediment transport and coastal deposition are relatively self-contained,
for example within bays or between major headlands and estuaries. More detailed ‘policy units’ will provide a
further sub-division for establishing the risk framework. For each policy unit four coastal defence
options will be considered, which are :
·
hold the existing coastal
defence line
·
advance the existing
defence line (seawards)
·
managed realignment
·
no active intervention
The SMP process involves wide-ranging consultation and
Defra has recently completed four trial SMPs where different consultation
models have been tested. Final guidance
for the production of the Plans is expected in the very near future. The points raised in this report will be
expanded with the assistance of illustrations in the accompanying presentation.
An aspect of the new shoreline management plan will be
consideration of the impacts of climate change. Updated scenarios have been obtained from the United Kingdom
Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP) and research undertaken by the Isle of Wight
Centre for the Coastal Environment with financial support from the European
Commission has allowed our understanding to be developed further. Between 1997 and 2000 the Centre led a study
entitled ‘Coastal change, climate and instability’; the results of this work
were launched at an international conference held in Ventnor on the Isle of
Wight in 2002. More recently the Centre
has been successful with a further 1.7 million Euro bid to the LIFE Environment
Programme for a second study called ‘Response’ (Responding to the risks of
climate change). The coastline of central
southern England, including the Isle of Wight, is one of five European study
sites where a detailed examination is being made of the impacts of a range of
climate change scenarios on coastal features including chalk clifflines, soft
cliffs and coastal slopes, coastal landslides, beaches and estuaries. The study will cover the full range of
coastal landforms found on the Island.
This study will be completed in 2006 and the findings will also support
the shoreline management plan.
RELEVANT PLANS, POLICIES, STRATEGIES AND PERFORMANCE
INDICATORS
The Shoreline Management Plan contributes towards the
Council’s key overall mission of ‘Improving Island life’. More specifically, it contributes to
‘Improving health, housing and the quality of life for all’, ‘Encouraging job
creation and economic prosperity’, ‘Creating safe … communities’, ‘improving
public transport and the highways infrastructure’ and ‘protecting the Island’s
physical environment’; the Plan also informs the statutory planning process. It should be noted that nearly two thirds of
the Isle of Wight’s population lives within 2km of the coast. Coastal defences protect hundreds of
millions of pounds worth of assets around the Isle of Wight’s coastal zone
including residential properties, vital services, holiday infrastructure and
important highways.
CONSULTATION PROCESS
The Shoreline Management Plan will be the subject of
extensive consultation with all key coastal stakeholders including statutory
organisations (eg. English Nature, Environment Agency, English Heritage,
Countryside Agency), major coastal landowners and sectoral coastal interests,
coastal Town and Parish Councils and the general public. This will be achieved through consultations
at key stages and exhibitions, in particular, at the beginning and at draft
report stage as well as through the Centre’s coastal wight website (www.coastalwight.gov.uk) and through the Coastal Visitors’ Centre at
Ventnor.
FINANCIAL, LEGAL, CRIME AND DISORDER IMPLICATIONS
Coast protection capital schemes are funded wholly by
central government through both coast protection grant aid and Supplementary
Credit Approval / Supported Capital Expenditure. The shoreline management plan and other similar coastal studies
are also funded in this way by the government.
Studies into coastal and geological-related problems around the Isle of
Wight coastline in the past have been funded by the Isle of Wight Council and
by the government but particularly in recent years through bidding from a range
of European Commission’s research programmes (eg. LIFE Environment, Interreg
and the Vth Framework Programme). Many
of these research projects have been carried out in partnership with other
areas of Europe where similar problems are experienced, with the Council acting
as lead partner for a number of the projects.
The majority of the work on the shoreline management
plan will be carried out by the Coastal Manager and Senior Coastal Scientists
within the Isle of Wight Centre for the Coastal Environment. They will be supported on certain particular
aspects of the work by coastal consultants who will be invited to tender for
the work. The consultants will be drawn
from the Council’s select list.
For the second time, shoreline management plans are
being prepared for the whole of the coastline of England and Wales. This will form part of a national framework
for risk management but will also justify expenditure on coast protection and
flood defence schemes where appropriate.
The SMP is, therefore, a vital component of effective management and
resourcing of the coastal defence programme.
APPENDICES ATTACHED
None.
BACKGROUND PAPERS USED IN THE PREPARATION OF THIS
REPORT
1.
Defra 2003 ‘Procedural
guidance for production of shoreline management plans’, Defra, London.
2.
McInnes, R.G., 2003. ‘Coastal defence – A non-technical guide’;
Ventnor, Isle of Wight
3.
Bray, M.J., Carter, D.J.
and Hooke, J.M., 2005. ‘South coast
sediment transport study’, report for SCOPAC; Portsmouth
4.
McInnes, R.G. and
Jakeways, J., 2002. ‘Instability –
planning and management’, Proceedings of the international conference, Ventnor,
Isle of Wight, May 2002; London, Thomas Telford.
5.
McInnes, R.G. and
Jakeways, J., 2002. ‘Coastal change,
climate and instability’ – an EU LIFE project (1997-2000); Proceedings of the
international conference ‘Instability – planning and management, Ventnor;
London, Thomas Telford.
Contact Point : Dr
Robin McInnes tel : 857220; e-mail : [email protected]
COUNCILLOR TERRY BUTCHERS
Portfolio Holder for Sustainable Development,
Environment and Planning Policy