Project News

Please note the Virtual Exhibition Room is now closed. If you have any further comments to add about the Phase 1 shortlist options, please email us: pevenseyandeastbournecoast@environment-agency.gov.uk

*Recording now available*

If you were unable to join us live for the Online Q&A event, or you would like to watch the session again, you can access the recording using the link below. The transcript is available from the Documents list on the right of the screen.

Recording of Q&A session

We are pleased to share the details of our upcoming engagement events with you.

Come along to a public exhibition to find out more about the shortlist for Phase 1 of the scheme. The project team will be there to explain more and answer any of your questions.

Further details about the online Q&A session will be published here soon.

Vegetated shingle at Pevensey and Eastbourne

Vegetated shingle is a scarce habitat in Sussex, inhabited by a small range of plants which are adapted to growing on coastal shingle in the harsh conditions of low soil moisture and exposure to wind and salt spray. Typical plants include Sea Kale (Crambe maritima), Sea Campion (Silene uniflora) and Yellow Horned - poppy (Glaucium flavum). Some of the best remaining examples of this habitat along the South East England coast are at Shoreham-by-Sea and Dungeness.

Although vegetated shingle is a globally rare habitat, there has been continued destruction along the Sussex coast. Due to its fragile status, the flora is vulnerable to damage from a range of threats, both natural and manmade. Coastal squeeze and excessive visitor pressure, as is the case along the frontage at Eastbourne, can lead to either the total loss of vegetation or a dramatic reduction in the quality of the community present.

Surveys have been carried out recently by the Pevensey to Eastbourne project team, which have found that currently, the vegetated shingle is generally absent or in poor condition along the whole frontage, apart from small, discrete fenced off areas.

We think that in time there will be opportunities to improve the condition of vegetated shingle through a combination of design and careful habitat management. In the short-term we may be impacting areas where shingle could or should be but is absent or in poor condition.

Coastal squeeze, where areas inland are urbanised and coastal erosion is eating away at habitats along the seafront, is a threat to vegetated shingle in the future, so we need to identify locations where it could possibly move inland.

The vegetated shingle is a very sensitive feature which Natural England and Sussex Wildlife Trust will be keeping an eye on.

We are working on a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) to identify how we can make improvements to the environment whilst minimising negative impacts. We expect this work to be available for review in the winter.

We are also looking at how we can merge landscape improvements into the design of the flood risk solutions and aim to have these designs ready for review alongside the SEA.

Marine habitats may help to reduce flood and erosion risk by reducing wave power, whilst also improving biodiversity and absorbing carbon. We are therefore working with partners to understand the different forms of marine habitat that may be suitable for this area of coastline.

It’s been a particularly busy winter season with lots of activity and machinery on the beach.

There are two parts to the maintenance regime:

1. Restoring defences after storms – achieved by pushing shingle back up the beach or by short distance recycling using dumpers.
2. Trying to minimise the amount of shingle moving along the frontage, whilst collecting shingle from the eastern end of the frontage and moving it west so it can begin to gradually drift east once again.

We have had relatively few storms since winter. This has allowed us to move more shingle than usual from Cooden to Sovereign Harbour to ensure that shingle remains in the right locations. We have also had the dredger ‘Sospan Dau’ visit the harbour to recharge shingle onto the beach.

To watch the 'Sospan Dau' in action, see 'Videos' on the Project News page.

We have installed 3 gabion display units along Eastbourne seafront to share project information and to help increase community and visitor awareness of the scheme.

Our project posters have also been displayed in bus stops and community centres within the project area, and our logo can be seen on several lamppost banners in Eastbourne.

The success of this engagement will be evaluated by monitoring the number of visits to the website through the QR codes on the posters. This data will also help us to plan and shape how we communicate with stakeholders for future engagement events.

Have you seen our gabions, posters or banners around Eastbourne and Pevensey?

Please let us know with this short survey: Community awareness survey

We have a series of posters on display around the Pevensey and Eastbourne area to help raise awareness of the project – have you seen them yet?

Below is a summary of the collection of posters along with a summary of what they are all showing. If you have any questions please email us at pevenseyandeastbournecoast@environment-agency.gov.uk or contact us via the forum page.

Exploring how the coastline will change

This poster relates to the predicted sea level rise over the next 100 years due to climate change. We are facing a climate emergency as sea levels are predicted to rise by more than a metre over the next 100 years, along with an increase in the risk of coastal flooding and erosion. You can find out more about the possible solutions for the coastline here.

Historical coastline changes

This poster shows how the coastline from Pevensey Bay to Eastbourne would have looked in 340AD. This historic map was produced by Stuart Murrell, a local historian in 1980.

The current coastline is marked on the poster with a dashed line to show how the it has changed over the years. This change has been is gradual and is not seen on a day-to-day basis. With sea levels predicted to rise by at least 1 metre over the next 100 years, the coastline will constantly be changing.

Find out why the Pevensey Bay to Eastbourne Coastal Management Scheme is needed here.

Project Facts and Information

This poster includes some interesting facts that relate to the Pevensey Bay to Eastbourne Coastal Management Scheme.

You can find more out about the scheme by visiting the different sections of our website.

Share your photos

The coastline is constantly changing. It can be difficult to see the changes on a daily basis as they are gradual. One way of seeing how the landscape has changed over time can be from looking at old maps and photos of an area. As part of this scheme, we are inviting you to send us your photos of the coastline from Pevensey Bay through to Eastbourne. This will help us to create a clearer picture of what the coastline previously looked like and see how it has changed over time.

Email your photos to us at pevenseyandeastbournecoast@environment-agency.gov.uk or post them to Instagram using #PevEbCoast

In December, we held a workshop with more than 60 students from 8 secondary schools from the Coastal Schools Partnership (CSP) in East Sussex.

The students learned about the scheme, today’s coastal challenges and took part in a flood risk planning activity, where they considered all possible options to decide which solution would be best for their zone.

Parents were then welcomed to the workshop, allowing the students to discuss the activity and their choices with them.

Our post-workshop survey showed that 100% of respondents felt they better understood the impact of rising sea levels and how we can protect against this.

You can view our CSP post workshop summary report by clicking here: CSP Report

A Local Authority Steering Group has been created to work alongside the Pevensey Bay to Eastbourne coastal management scheme. Representatives from Rother District Council, Wealden District Council and Eastbourne Borough Council met with the Environment Agency for the first meeting in November 2022. A copy of the notes from this meeting can be accessed using the link to the right.