News

Discover the past, present, and possible futures of the Pevensey Bay to Eastbourne coastline, and see how we’re managing flood risk to protect thousands of homes.

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Eastbourne beach and pier with bathing machines and horses, late 19th century.
(Image courtesy of Eastbourne Local History Society, Alan Wenham)

As you may have seen, Friday and Saturday’s severe weather caused significant impacts along the beach:

• Erosion occurred at several points from Sovereign Harbour to Cooden.
• Shingle was washed onto Herbrand Walk near the railway crossing.

Our teams worked tirelessly with double shifts over the weekend and are back on the beach today. They’re focusing on:

• Reinstating the most critical sections of the beach.
• Restoring access where it was lost.

Their hard work has been outstanding, and recovery efforts will continue throughout the week.

Please take extra care if you’re out on the beach. The waves have created steep slopes (cliffing) in several areas, which can be hazardous.

We know this work may cause some disruption, and we truly appreciate your patience and understanding as we respond.

The rebuild: Saturday and Sunday morning

We have experienced some challenging conditions along the coast this week. Spring tides will peak at 3.7 metres today, and Thursday’s strong winds caused erosion across the frontage. We have seen the worst impacts around Old Martello Road, Grey Towers, Leyland, and Beachlands.

The material we moved last week to fill the scour hole has already washed away from the beach crest, so we have been working hard to keep the beach in shape and continue protecting homes.

Early this morning, at 2am, bulldozers were out repairing the most vulnerable areas in front of properties at Normans Bay East, Old Martello Road, and the Village. By 6am, our recycling teams were on the move, moving shingle from Normans Bay outfall to Normans Bay East, and from the sailing club towards Old Martello Road and Martello 64.

We will be back out early tomorrow from 3am, and likely again on Sunday morning, to repeat the work. To make the most of low tides, we need to operate outside daylight hours, so we thank you the local community for your understanding.

The weather is calm today, and it is been great to hear so many friendly thank-yous from people walking the beach.

Looking ahead, another front is due tonight and into Saturday morning, with possible strong winds again on Tuesday night (9 December). We will review conditions and keep working to do our very best to keep your homes safe.

Essential works underway: shingle moved and repairs completed along the frontage

We are keeping a close eye on the weather and getting ready for this week’s spring tides.

The latest forecast suggests strong southerly winds on Monday, shifting to south-westerly on Tuesday, with waves up to 3 metres. Conditions should ease as tides peak later in the week, but we will continue to monitor this closely.

To prepare, we have stockpiled shingle along the beach crest in several locations. This helps us respond quickly to any erosion, as high tides in the mornings will limit access to the lower beach. Our teams and machinery are ready to recycle and reposition shingle where needed.

We have also completed bypass operations from White Point and rebuilt the beach crest at key areas including Normans Bay, Beachlands, Sea Road car park, and more. Around 6,300 m³ of shingle has been moved to strengthen the frontage.

We will also move machinery from White Point to Pevensey Beach and continue with two recycling teams to repair any erosion caused by the spring tides this week.

Machinery along the beach crest near Normans Bay

Bulldozer moving shingle as part of beach works at Normans Bay east

The beach off Old Martello Road

A quick note to let you know we will be carrying out what we call our bypass operations next week. This is where we use trucks to move material from Langney point by round around to Pacific Drive and tip West of Martello tower No.64.

We’ll have 6 tipper trucks running all week, Monday to Friday. Then if there is enough material we will continue through the first part of w/c 1^st Dec.

We plan to recycle from the groynes at Cooden all next week. However we may have to delay that a day or 2 should we get any erosion through the weekend and Monday.

We have our eye on the spring tides w/c 1^st Dec and will continue to have the beach ready.

Thank you for all the positive friendly comments when we’ve met on the beach. These are warmly received by all of the team. All of us want to do the best job we can to help keep you safe and share the beach with you.

Following last week’s spring tides, our team has been rebuilding the beach crest to maintain protection. We’ve expanded operations with two recycling teams working at opposite ends of the beach, moving shingle to areas that need it most.

This week, work focused on Normans Bay, Deloram, East Stream, and Herbrand beach huts, as well as sections near Pevensey Sailing Club and Old Martello Road. These efforts help repair storm damage and keep the beach resilient.

Next week, high tides during the day will limit access, but we’ll continue using stockpiles and moving material where possible. We’re also preparing for upcoming works at Langney Point and plan to return to Cooden beach later in the month to recycle more shingle.

This week we’ve been busy moving shingle from the Cooden stockpile to areas that need it most, including East Stream and Deloram. Our team also rebuilt sections of the haul road after recent high tides caused damage.

Two additional machines have been working to the west of Old Martello Road and the other at Beachlands, Normans Bay east and west. Next week, with high tides during the day, we’ll continue recycling shingle and plan to return to Cooden soon to move the remaining material.

Storm Benjamin brought strong winds and high waves to our coastline last week, causing some erosion at the western end of the beach near Old Martello Road. We also lost part of the Cooden shingle stockpile, but we plan to move as much as possible next week, weather permitting.

Our team has been working between tides to push up shingle and recycle material where it’s needed most. With tides dropping and winds easing, we’ll continue rebuilding ahead of the big spring tides in early November.

Thank you for your patience as we manage these challenging conditions. Every effort is focused on keeping the beach safe and resilient.

This will be most relevant to those in the Norman’s Bay area and those who use Norman’s Bay car park:

You may have noticed some additional signs appearing and received a letter regarding works to the Outer Outfall doors at the bottom of the Wallers Haven. This work will entail replacing the outfall doors using cranes to lift them in and out. This is an EA project but is being managed by a separate team.

If you have specific questions about the outfall project, the team can be contacted directly by email at: SLTSDN.AP.Ouse.Pevensey@environment-agency.gov.uk

For the remainder of this week and the first half of next week, we expect to be recycling from East Stream / Fishing Station area through to Beachlands & Norman’s Bay East. This means the bulldozers and excavator will continue to be parked in the Norman’s Bay area.

We do appreciate that this will create a busy area over the next week. We will do all we can to minimise the impact. Please accept our apologies in advance for any inconvenience caused.

On Thursday 9 October, as part of Flood Action week, we were proud to welcome Alan Lovell, Chair of the Environment Agency, and Emma Reynolds MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to Pevensey Bay.

During the visit, the team demonstrated beach management activities, showcasing how shingle beach defences are maintained to reduce flood risk. Alan and Emma engaged positively with the team, asking insightful questions about our operations, the properties at risk and the environmental challenges we face. It was a great opportunity to highlight the importance of our beach management work and the dedication of our team.

Watch the video of the visit, shared by the Secretary of State on her official X channel.