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Shoreline Management Plans (SMPs) are detailed technical documents that consider how to manage the influence of coastal processes on the natural and human environment. They focus on how to...
Shoreline Management Plans and local development planning. Local Planning Authorities can use Shoreline Management Plans to guide where they plan and permit development, including the...
- Overview
- Background
- What SMPs are
- What is the Shoreline Management Plan Explorer
- Who uses Shoreline Management Plans
- Shoreline Management Plan management approaches
Check how coastal flood and erosion risks will be managed in your area.
Shoreline Management Plans (SMPs) help to deliver the ambitions of the National Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy. They set out a planned approach to managing flood and coastal erosion risk around the coast of England to 2105.
There are 20 SMPs covering the English coast. You can see these on the Shoreline Management Plan Explorer.
SMPs were developed by coastal groups between 2006 and 2012.
Coastal groups include:
•the Environment Agency
•local authorities
•others with an interest in coastal management
The Environment Agency has a strategic overview role for the management of all sources of flooding and coastal change in England, including coastal erosion. This includes approving SMPs and any changes made to them.
The Shoreline Management Plan Explorer is an online tool that makes shoreline management plans easier to access and use.
It is available for:
•coastal managers
•local authority planners
•the public, including communities living on the coast
You can use the Shoreline Management Plan Explorer to view:
The Environment Agency and local authorities use SMPs to guide investment in managing flood and erosion risk to people and property in a sustainable way.
Local planning authorities can use SMPs to guide where they plan and permit development, including the designation of CCMAs.
The National Planning Policy Framework Planning Practice Guidance explains how planners can use SMPs to define coastal change management areas and their associated policies.
SMPs are useful to anybody living and working at the coast or to those interested in how the coast is changing and how it is being managed.
All SMPs apply a management approach for each section or ‘unit’ of the coast through this century. They have been developed by coastal groups in consultation with local communities. They are based on the best available evidence on how the coast is changing and what may be at risk from flooding or erosion now and in the future.
The management approaches are:
•hold the line - maintain or upgrade protection from flooding or erosion by holding the shoreline in broadly the same position
•no active intervention - maintain or encourage a more natural coastline, which may involve discussing adaptation to the risk from flooding or erosion
•managed realignment - change the position of the shoreline in a controlled way, such as by slowing erosion or creating areas of habitat to help manage flooding
•advance the line - actively move shoreline defences significantly seawards
A shoreline management plan(SMP) is a large-scale assessment of the risks associated with coastal processes (see the glossary) and helps to reduce these risks to people and the developed,...
It stretches over 75 kilometres of coastline, or around 42 kilometres as the crow flies. The shoreline is a mosaic of dunes and embankments that protect grazing marsh, reedbeds, agricultural land, natural barrier islands, spits and shingle ridges and saltmarsh in front of undefended higher ground.
Although shoreline management plans are advisory rather than statutory documents, they set out an agreed and specific long-term (100-year) strategy for coastal management. They should be the first port of call when considering strategies, policies and actions, including projects and development that involve a coastal location. In
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Jan 30, 2024 · Shoreline Management Plans (SMPs) are an important tool for helping to plan for and manage flood and coastal erosion risks. They are developed by coastal groups .
