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Northumberland Coastline
The coastline between the Scottish Border and the River Tyne supports a number of coastal communities and broadly comprises a series of dune systems and wide, sandy bays separated by lengths of cliffs and small islands (Holy Island, the Farne Islands and Coquet Island). Only a small proportion of the overall Northumberland coast is protected by man-made defences. The coastline is also characterised by its wildlife and habitats of great nature conservation value. The coast is also important for tourism and local industry.
The coastline covered by this Plan comes within the boundaries of six Local Authorities (Berwick-upon-Tweed, Alnwick, Castle Morpeth, Wansbeck, Blyth Valley and North Tyneside). They and the Environment Agency have certain permissive powers and responsibilities for managing the risk of coastal erosion and flooding from the sea along this coast. Together they now wish to produce a Shoreline Management Plan for sustainable future management of this coastline over the next century.
What is a Shoreline Management Plan?
A Shoreline Management Plan (SMP) provides a large-scale assessment of the risks associated with coastal evolution and presents a policy framework to address these risks to people and the developed, historic and natural environment in a sustainable manner.
The SMP is a non-statutory, policy document for coastal defence management planning. It takes account of other existing planning initiatives and legislative requirements, and is intended to inform wider strategic planning. It does not set policy for anything other than coastal defence management. As such, it does not set policies for the management of issues such as land drainage.
A SMP was first produced for the Northumberland coast in 1998. We now need to update this plan in the light of new national guidance, changing regional pressures and local community needs, improved understanding of coastal evolution, recent coastal planning strategies and local schemes such as at Newbiggin-by-the-Sea. This new plan will be called the Northumberland SMP2.
The SMP Policy Options
The shoreline management policies considered are those defined by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
These policies are:
Hold the line |
Maintain or upgrade the level of protection provided by defences. |
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Advance the line |
Build new defences seaward of the existing defence line. |
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Managed realignment |
Allowing realignment of the shoreline, with management to control or limit movement. |
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No active intervention |
A decision not to invest in providing or maintaining defences. |
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The SMP Process
The development of a SMP involves a number of stages (as shown below) and will take around 16 months to complete. The SMP is planned to be finalised by February 2009.
If you would like to download the final SMP click here.
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