From a press release on the East Devon District Council website:

EAST DEVON District Council has welcomed an “informative and thought-provoking” study* of the Exe Estuary that was previewed on Tuesday 18 November.

Councillor Graham Liverton, EDDC’s Portfolio Holder Environment, praised the study, which feeds into the South Devon and Dorset module of the national Shoreline Management Plan** (SMP), and the five stakeholder forums that will open up the issues for public debate.

The first stakeholder forum held in Exeter today launched the latest SMP proposals and previewed the more localised Exe Estuary study. Public consultation on the SMP is due to start in March 2009 and will help to shape the coastal protection measures taken by official agencies in the coming years and decades.

Councillor Liverton said: “As one of the partners who sponsored the scientific study, EDDC is pleased that the technical experts have set out clearly for us the challenges we face from climate change and rising sea levels, as well as the ongoing effects of wave and tidal action that have been shaping our coastline for hundreds, indeed thousands of years.

“It is a sobering thought that the next 100 years could see a dramatic increase in the impact that the sea and the weather have on our coastline and it is a heavy responsibility on those of us charged with policy-making that we take the right decisions for all concerned.

Sensitivities

“It is important as a starting point that we have all the known facts about each of the 25 locations or ‘management units’ in the Exe Estuary. The initial findings of this report give us those and offer up some technical solutions. In the coming months and years, we will need to discuss how best to respond to what the report tells us and choose our actions carefully.

“There are many, many sensitivities connected with a site such as this. What’s called for is a holistic solution. We will need to design our strategy patiently and consult thoroughly with the communities on both sides of the Exe before we move ahead, ensuring that our actions are supported by sound arguments and joined-up thinking. The stakeholder forums this month and the wider SMP consultation that will start next spring will ensure that the public are fully engaged in this process”.

Councillor Liverton said the action plan that emerges from the Exe study would need to look at the short, medium and long-term forecasts for this stretch of coastline on a number of levels:

• Practical and sustainable solutions
• Impact on the environment and wildlife
• Impact on communities and the local economy
• Impact on tourism
• Spending and sources of funding

He went on: “Some of the technical solutions being proposed are easy to accept, whilst others are much more controversial – for example the possibility of managed realignment at The Maer in the medium to long term. Members of EDDC will be working with the technical experts and with our other partners to ensure that we look carefully at the implications of each option and where necessary do more investigation before coming to a decision.

Balance

“There will be pressures from some quarters to do more than is necessary and from others to do nothing at all. The challenge will be to find the right balance so that we work with one-another and with nature to come up with the best all-round solution.

“Protecting the interests of existing businesses and maintaining Exmouth’s reputation as a welcoming family resort will be uppermost in our minds as we consider the technical options in the Exe study. As a land-owner on Exmouth seafront ourselves, we at EDDC understand the issues and share the concerns of the many people who have business and commercial interests in the area”.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

The purpose of the Exe Estuary Coastal Management Study is to develop a long-term sustainable management strategy for the coastal defences at Dawlish Warren and Exmouth seafront, in line with the Government’s ‘Making Space for Water Flood and Coastal Defence Strategy, which aims to:

• Reduce the threat to people and property
• Deliver the greatest environmental, social and economic benefit, consistent with sustainable development principles

The Exe Estuary is funnel-shaped, enclosed by two spits and comprises two large tidal deltas. Dawlish Warren, at its mouth, is the only active spit. Dawlish Warren has an important environmental status as a Nature Reserve, Site of Special Scientific Interest and a candidate Special Area of Conservation.

The spit provides an important flood defence. If it were breached, the high value private, commercial and recreational areas in its hinterland would undergo significant changes, with the possible loss of valuable habitats.

In the Exe Estuary, human activity to date has included:

• Reclamation of intertidal areas
• Dredging
• Catchment management
• Construction of railway and coastal defences
• A range of developments for military, commercial, residential and recreational uses

The questions for agencies in the future, having studied the report in detail, will be to decide what action to take in the 0-20 year, 20-50 year and 50-100 year time bands. The choices will be based on one of, or a combination of, these four options:

• Hold the defence line
• Advance the existing defence line
• Managed realignment
• Or no intervention and let natural processes continue

* The technical study was carried out by specialist consultants Halcrow, on behalf of a partnership comprising: Teignbridge District Council, East Devon District Council, the Environment Agency, Natural England, Devon County Council, Exeter City Council and Network Rail. The report will be available from Wednesday 26 November at: www.SDADCAG.org

** The SMP for the coast between Durlston Head, near Swanage and Rame Head, near Plymouth, is currently being reviewed. The plan process, which is led by Teignbridge District Council on behalf of the South Devon and Dorset Coastal Authorities Group (SDADCAG), will set the agreed policies used to determine shoreline defences and thus shape this length of coast over three time periods, up to the next 100 years. Anyone with an interest in the Shoreline Management Plan and what it means for the future of the region’s coastline can register with the Coastal Group website to be kept automatically updated. The website address is www.SDADCAG.org