Water

Adapting to coastal change - supporting communities that may be affected by coastal erosion and flooding

Caravan park in the East Riding Coastal Zone where the concept of "rollback"is being examined

Caravan park in the East Riding Coastal Zone where the concept of "rollback"is being examined.
Photo © Natural England

Introduction

This cross-Government project is developing approaches to support communities that face risks of coastal erosion and coastal flooding in cases where properties, businesses and infrastructure are significantly impacted. This work aims to ensure that communities and infrastructure are more resilient to the impacts of coastal change.

To deliver this project Defra is working with a range of organisations and local Government to generate and then test possible methods. These will form  a coastal policy framework which will set out how government and communities can respond to and plan for change. The 'toolkit' of measures, designed to help communities achieve sustainable, long-term management, includes:

  • improved planning for risk and adaptation
  • measures to help people, businesses and infrastructure providers manage the impact on their assets
  • measures to ensure that the cultural heritage and environmental value of a coastline is conserved by adapting to change rather than resisting it.
  • Ways to improve community engagement in planning and discussing possible changes.

The stakeholder work draws on previous work done through a previous project looking at similar issues. We aim to publish this work in Spring 2009.

There are a number of examples of where government and other authorities are working with coastal communities to help them adapt to their changing coastline. These include:

Project outputs to date

A team of researchers led by Cardiff University have explored with key consultees the issues arising from a change in management approach, primarily on the coast but also considering the fluvial context. The researchers explored the possible use of a number of “tools” and these are set out in the report below. Although it is recognised that there is no “one-stop” solution that would deal with the complex situations that exist in flood and coastal erosion risk management, the report gives a better understanding of the issues and concerns, including from a social perspective. We will now consider the possible solutions and explore those that are worth considering in further detail.

  • Preliminary Report [PDF] (large file, 2.3mb), Adapting to Changing Coastlines and Rivers, prepared by a research team led by the University of Cardiff and setting out possible tools for adaptation.
  • Executive Summary [PDF] available as a separate file for quicker downloading.

NB Please note that the views expressed in the report are those of the research team and, while this research was commissioned by Defra, the publication of the report itself does not imply any change in policy

Links

Page last modified: 23 July 2008
Page published: 23 July 2008

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs