Main Document

Gives details on the principles, aims, structure and background to the development of the plan.

Provides details of how the SMP meets the requirements of an Appropriate Assessment (AA) and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA).

Presents the basis for development of the Plan, providing a broad overview of the Plan area, describing the concepts of sustainable policy and providing an understanding of the constraints and limitations on adopting certain policies.

It has been frequently stated that there is as much value in the thought process of developing the SMP as there is in the actual policies themselves. This section, therefore, aims to lead the reader through this process.

This SMP covers over 1000km of shoreline. Within section 4 a rationale is

discussed as to how it may be subdivided without losing the value of considering the coast as a whole. The initial subdivision is by Coastal Areas, of which there are 7 defined (Coastal Areas A through to G). These areas are further subdivided into Policy Development Zones; (PDZs). Within these zones the coast is described and the way in which the coast might behave is explained if:

a) no further defence work was undertaken (the NAI scenario);

b) present management is continued into the future (the WPM scenario).

These are defined as the two baseline scenarios in undertaking the review. Consideration of these scenarios develops an understanding of the pressures which may develop on the coast under different approaches to management. It allows an assessment to be made of whether, under each scenario, objectives are or are not achieved.

From this assessment, alternative approaches or scenarios are examined and from this the preferred draft Plan was developed. To achieve this Plan individual policies for sections of the coast are derived (Policy Units; PU). These units are finally grouped into areas of management (Management Areas; MA), pulling together policy units which have a basic interdependency. Following consultation on the draft Plan, the policies and approach to management have been further developed and the final Plan is discussed in Section 4.

For each MA, statements are prepared setting out a summary of the intent, the necessary actions over different time scales, and the impacts of the preferred policies. Starting from an initial seven Coastal Areas with 20 PDZ’s in total, the coast is defined by 309 PU’s which are drawn together as 62 MA’s.

PDZ1

PDZ2

PDZ3

PDZ4

PDZ5

PDZ6

PDZ7

PDZ8

PDZ9

PDZ10

PDZ11

PDZ12

PDZ13

PDZ14

PDZ15

PDZ16

PDZ20

PDZ17

PDZ18

PDZ19

Brings together the overall plan, highlighting important issues in relation to the future management of the coast.

Provides a brief summary of policies. It is appreciated that many readers will focus upon the local conclusions of the SMP. However, it is important to recognise that the SMP is produced for the coast as a whole, considering issues beyond specific locations. Therefore, this summary should be read in the context of the wider-scale issues and policy implications, as reported and developed in Section 4 and supported by information in the Appendices.

Following consultation on the draft plan, an action plan has been developed, providing a programme for future activities which are required to progress the Plan between now and its next review in 5 to 10 years time. A summary of this action plan for each MA will be presented in Section 4 within the MA statements. This is developed in more detail within the action plan itself. The action plan is developed as a database that will be used by the various authorities in steering and monitoring progress of the Plan.