Coastal management scheme to continue in Swanage and Charmouth
It's being extended until March 2027
A £3 million project will look at how communities in Swanage and Charmouth can adapt to the effects of climate change on the coast.
The Environment Agency funded work, to be led by Dorset Council, will continue until March 2027.
Lyme Regis and Charmouth councillor Linda Bawden has welcomed the funding, which she says has attracted a great deal of excitement locally – but has appealed for voluntary groups and the parish council to also be involved.
“It’s good that the various risks has been recognised but I’m a little concerned that there is a lot of volunteer expertise already which feels it has not been listened to and is not consulted,” she told Dorset Council’s Cabinet.
“Charmouth Heritage Coast centre is mentioned, but there is little mention of the parish council and neighbourhood plan,” she said.
Marshwood Vale councillor Simon Christopher, who went to school in Charmouth, also welcomed the project telling the meeting that the concreting over of land and extra housing in the village since he was young, had probably not helped the risk of flooding and sewage overflows into the sea.
A paper to the Cabinet meeting, which endorsed the project, said:
“The Swanage and Charmouth Coastal Transition Accelerator Programme (CTAP) project will support the Government’s stated aim to manage down the risk to such coastal communities, and where they cannot be, support those communities to respond and adapt accordingly…
“The project will deliver a range of options at both Swanage and Charmouth to enable communities to adapt and thrive in light of ongoing coastal change.”
Part of the work may include additional beach, cliff and shoreline construction and measures to protect coastal footpaths adjoining the coast.
Among the ideas likely to be explored are the replacement or redesign of beach access and measures to reduce damage to the Charmouth Heritage Centre, including a look at its long-term viability.
In Swanage the work will support the delivery of the Swanage & Durlston Cliff Management Strategy.