Shoreline Management Plan

A Shoreline Management Plan (SMP) provides a large-scale assessment of coastal evolution and presents a policy framework which determines how the shoreline will be managed, i.e. which sections of the coast are to be protected. It projects the short, medium and long-term effects of the policy, indicating which areas are likely to be at risk of coastal erosion and coastal flooding.

In doing so, an SMP is a high-level document that forms an important part of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) strategy for flood and coastal defence.

Defra published policy guidance on SMPs in 1995. Following a review of the strengths and weaknesses of the first generation SMPs and full consultation with the industry, updated guidance was published in 2001. That guidance concluded that the first generation SMPs were excellent high-level strategic documents but that further research was needed into how the coast would evolve.

Defra’s updated guidance recommends that options should be appraised over a 100-year horizon, rather than 50 years as previously, offering a really sustainable “vision” for the coast. SMPs will incorporate latest research such as Foresight and the futurecoast project promoted by Defra which has provided nationally consistent predictions of long-term coastal evolution specifically to help inform these SMP reviews. Defra’s guidance will help to ensure that stakeholders are engaged in an efficient and focused way so that future risk is communicated clearly and local views are fully considered in developing the plans, whilst also ensuring that the decision making processes that underlie the plans are transparent and auditable.