Shoreline Management Plan

Question 1

Overview

Answer 1

Each sediment cell defines a distinct management zone for which a SMP has been written, which identifies the natural processes, human activities and management decisions.

SMPs are extremely detailed, comprehensive documents and are based on the sediment cell principle that intervention will be largely self-contained within each cell, having little or no knock-on effects elsewhere.

Each sediment cell is treated (from a management point of view) as a ‘closed cell’, even though in practice we know that not to be the absolute case.

Question 2

Four options

Answer 2

SMPs are recommended for all sections of the coastline in England and Wales by Defra (the Dept for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs). Four options are considered for any stretch of coastline:

Hold the line – maintaining the current position of the coastline (often using hard-engineering methods).

Advance the line – extending the coastline out to sea (by encouraging the build-up of a wider beach, using beach-nourishment methods and groyne construction.

Managed retreat/strategic realignment – allowing the coastline to retreat in a managed way (e.g. creating salt-marsh environments by deliberately breaching flood banks that protect low-quality farmland.

Do nothing/no active intervention – letting nature takes its course and allowing the sea to erode cliffs and flood low-lying land and allowing existing defenses to collapse.

Question 3

SMP Factors considered

Answer 3

● Economic value of assets that could be protected. A known area of gas reserves may be protected, though a caravan park may not be

● The technical feasibility of ​engineering solutions​. A sea wall may not be possible for a certain location

● The ​ecological and cultural value of land. For example, it may be desirable to protect historic areas and ​Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)