Shoreline management plans - UK Flashcards
Sustainable approaches require
Management of natural resources at the coast like water and farmland;
Monitoring of any changes to inform new strategies and;
Education and inclusion of the local communities to support the strategies
In a Shoreline Management Plan (SMP), each of the 11 sediment cells in the UK have had a detailed document written to identify the natural processes, activities and risks in the area
DEFRA (the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) makes recommendations for all sections of the coastline
They make recommendations from the four options:
do nothing
hold the line
managed retreat
advance the line
do nothing
letting nature take its course
Managed retreat
deliberate flooding of particular areas to manage coastal retreat
Advance the line
extending the coastline out to sea by building up the beach and land reclamation
Hold the line
maintaining the position of the coastline using mostly hard engineering methods
When making these recommendations DEFRA has to consider the value of the land and assets as well as technical viability of management strategies
This can lead to local conflict because the SMP protects some areas and not others
In Skipsea on the Holderness coastal erosion rates since 1989 have been
1.4m per year
People in Skipsea feel that nothing has been done to protect their village with a population of ………….whilst money has been spent on coastal defences in neighbouring towns and villages
700
Cost-benefit analysis
This is used to decide the recommendations for each section of coastline
Costs are forecast based on known tangible costs of coastal defences such as how much 100m of sea wall will cost to build and maintain, and intangible costs such as visual impact of the sea wall
Where benefits outweigh costs, such as the sea wall at Bridlington protecting population of over ……………..and buildings from coastal flooding, then the project is likely to go ahead
36,000
Where the costs outweigh the benefits, such as protecting the 24 houses at Skipsea from coastal erosion and flooding, a scheme is unlikely to be put in place