Project overview

The Future Studland plan will look ahead for the next 20 to 50 years. A key area it will explore is the balance between the area being a hugely popular place for people, as well as a nationally important wildlife habitat. It will also encompass travel and transport options, accessibility and the infrastructure in the area. We want to know how people are using the spaces now and what they would like to see in Studland for years to come.

A plan of this kind ensures that all local stakeholders have some guidance when making decisions.

Why is this needed?

Studland is a wild and natural peninsula and is the eastern gateway to the Isle of Purbeck as well as the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. It has a wide range of landscapes, habitats, land uses, buildings, heritage features, commercial centres and residential areas. It is a popular tourist destination, attracting over 1 million visitors, per year as well as being home for many residents and businesses. The scope of this project will cover all the of the Studland Peninsula from Shell Bay to Old Harry Rocks and encompasses the beaches, roads, services and habitats as well as the village itself.

Like many other areas of the UK, Studland is impacted by rapid coastal change. In the last two winters alone, major storm action has put huge pressure on the coastline, moving large swathes of beaches and edging closer to important infrastructure. Coastal erosion has been taking place for thousands of years but coupled with rising sea levels, some of the main facilities at Studland will be lost over the next 20-50 years and the local shoreline management plan suggests no active intervention should take place to prevent this. You can find out more about managing the coastline from the Shoreline Management Plan(External link) and the National Trust publication Shifting Shores(External link).

The National Trust have identified four key themes for the plan:

• Wild identity
• Infrastructure
• Travel and access
• Visitor Distribution and communications

Dorset Coast Forum are asking the community, stakeholders and visitors what they think should be included on the Future Studland Plan. This will take place through a series of engagement events, drop ins and activities as well as the tools on this site and questions will be asked around the themes.

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 Project overview

The Coastal Transition Accelerator Programme (CTAP) helps communities to plan for the long term, including through interventions such as improving and replacing damaged community infrastructure like beach access or coastal transport links, repurposing land in coastal erosion zones for different uses such as temporary car parks, and restoring and creating habitats to include green buffer zones.

Why now and why do we need to do something different?

England has some of the fastest eroding coastline in Europe. Coastal erosion is a natural, ongoing process that has been happening for thousands of years. But with sea levels continuing to rise into the next century, the rate of coastal erosion in some places will accelerate.

For some coastal locations it will unfortunately no longer be technically or economically feasible to provide protection from flooding and coastal change.

As the risks of erosion increase and accelerate with climate change, we need to explore now how local authorities can work with and support people living, working and using coastal areas that cannot sustainably be defended in the long term.

The CTAP aims to:

• Accelerate strategic planning (and associated action planning) to set out how the coastal local authorities, partners and communities will address the long-term transition of communities, businesses and assets away from the coastline at risk.
• Support the trialling of early on the ground innovative actions in support of medium and long term plans, that enable those coastal areas at significant risk to address the challenges posed by a changing climate.

The programme will run to March 2027, exploring and testing innovative opportunities. A full evaluation of the programme will help to inform future national policy direction and will add to the other coastal resilience activity managed by the Environment Agency, which includes a national coastal erosion risk map providing clearer data about local risks to help local planning.

The Coastal Transition Accelerator Programme supports the Environment Agency’s FCERM Strategy, which provides a longer-term vision of how we will better protect and prepare homes and businesses from flooding and coastal change and create climate resilient places.

#CoastalConnection  #CoastalInnovation 

 Project overview

The Coastal Transition Accelerator Programme (CTAP) helps communities to plan for the long term, including through interventions such as improving and replacing damaged community infrastructure like beach access or coastal transport links, repurposing land in coastal erosion zones for different uses such as temporary car parks, and restoring and creating habitats to include green buffer zones.

Why now and why do we need to do something different?

England has some of the fastest eroding coastline in Europe. Coastal erosion is a natural, ongoing process that has been happening for thousands of years. But with sea levels continuing to rise into the next century, the rate of coastal erosion in some places will accelerate.

For some coastal locations it will unfortunately no longer be technically or economically feasible to provide protection from flooding and coastal change.

As the risks of erosion increase and accelerate with climate change, we need to explore now how local authorities can work with and support people living, working and using coastal areas that cannot sustainably be defended in the long term.

The CTAP aims to:

• Accelerate strategic planning (and associated action planning) to set out how the coastal local authorities, partners and communities will address the long-term transition of communities, businesses and assets away from the coastline at risk.
• Support the trialling of early on the ground innovative actions in support of medium and long term plans, that enable those coastal areas at significant risk to address the challenges posed by a changing climate.

The programme will run to March 2027, exploring and testing innovative opportunities. A full evaluation of the programme will help to inform future national policy direction and will add to the other coastal resilience activity managed by the Environment Agency, which includes a national coastal erosion risk map providing clearer data about local risks to help local planning.

The Coastal Transition Accelerator Programme supports the Environment Agency’s FCERM Strategy, which provides a longer-term vision of how we will better protect and prepare homes and businesses from flooding and coastal change and create climate resilient places.

#CoastalConnection  #CoastalInnovation 

Project overview

Sea-floor erosion, combined with the localised movement of stone blocks due to wave impact on the outer harbour wall and the deterioration of the structure on the inner harbour wall, have seen significant destabilisation of the structure.

It is predicted that the functionality of the Cobb as a breakwater would end in the 2040’s, potentially resulting in the loss of the harbour, and over 100 residential and non-residential properties will be at increased risk of flooding and coastal erosion.

The project aims to stabilise the Cobb to maintain its status as a breakwater, a coastal flood and erosion defence and a safe harbour for many different types of vessels and businesses.

It is being proposed to strengthen and stabilise the structure which may include construction of a low-level concrete toe foundation strengthening wall along with tension piles to anchor the inner harbour walls.

Design options have been extensively reviewed by the project team and the wider statutory authorities including Historic England, Marine Management Organisation, and the Environment Agency. The project team are currently reviewing the scheme design options with a view to come to a preferred option that can be presented to stakeholders and the public. The preferred design will have a material effect upon construction timeline and therefore the project team is not in position to comment upon the construction programme at this time.

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