Shoreline Management Plans 2 - the need for a review..
In 2001, following a review of the strengths and weaknesses of the first generation SMP's and full consultation with the industry, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) published updated guidance on SMP's. That guidance concluded that the first generation SMP's were excellent high-level strategic documents but that further research was needed into how the coast would evolve.

DEFRA's updated guidance recommends that options should be appraised over a 100-year horizon, rather than 50 years as previously, offering a really sustainable "vision" for the coast.

They advised that SMP's should incorporate latest research such as Foresight and the Futurecoast Project promoted by DEFRA which has provided nationally consistent predictions of long-term coastal evolution specifically to help inform these SMP reviews.

The DERFA guidance will help to ensure consistency across the country and recommends that stakeholders are engaged in an efficient and focused way so that future risk is communicated clearly and local views are fully considered in developing the plans, whilst also ensuring that the decision making processes that underlie the plans are transparent and auditable.

This latest updated guidance aims to help coastal groups review first generation SMP's to produce SMP2s. It is the first specific policy guidance document DEFRA has released under the new Making Space for Water Strategy.

The guidance aims to ensure that the SMP reviews take advantage of the best aspects of the first generation of SMP's and are developed consistently with other policy objectives. SMP's produced following this guidance will outline the strategic direction for each coastal unit, following an in-depth and robust assessment of economic, environmental and social factors

LINKS

DEFRA Guidance

Making Space for Water

Foresight

Futurecoast Project

 

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