Project overview
WHAT?
The Environment Agency in partnership with Eastbourne Borough Council are developing a new, £100+ million large coastal flood and erosion risk management project for Pevensey Bay to Eastbourne.
This will be one of the largest coastal flood risk projects in the country, as we plan to make Pevensey Bay to Eastbourne resilient to coastal flooding in response to the current climate emergency.
The scheme will reduce the risk of flooding and coastal erosion to an estimated 10,000 residential properties as well as key infrastructure, local businesses, heritage sites and nature conservation areas. Along with reducing the flood risk, we will also be looking to increase biodiversity by 20% and reduce the amount of carbon generated throughout the life of the project, by at least 45% with an aim of becoming Net Zero by 2030.
WHY?
Climate change is a critical factor in why a scheme is needed. Sea level is predicted to rise by more than a metre over the next 100 years. This, along with a forecast rise in the number of storms, will increase the risk of coastal flooding and erosion.
If we do not review and update our current approach to coastal flood defences this will mean a significant increase in the chance of the sea over topping or even breaking through the current defences. This will impact to people’s homes, day to day lives and livelihoods.
We need to address what the future coastal conditions will look like and how we will adapt and become resilient to coastal flooding into the future, to provide protection to the communities at risk and the environment.
If sea level should rise by more than one metre in the southeast of England by the end of the century, as predicted by UK Climate Change Projections, today’s coastal protection systems would fail.
We need to address what the future coastal conditions will look like and how will we protect ourselves and environment against these changes.
HOW?
We have funding in place to develop the scheme in more detail. We will then be looking to secure a very significant amount of funding from government, which is called Flood & Coastal Erosion Risk Management Grant in Aid (FCRM GiA). This money in combination with additional funding from Eastbourne Borough Council and a variety of funding streams, means we can start planning for a new better protected and more sustainable coastline between Eastbourne and Pevensey Bay.
Whilst there are many possible pathways available along this coastline to improve the resilience to flooding and climate change, nothing has been decided yet.
WHERE?
The project covers 15km of coastline from the chalk cliffs at Holywell, in the west of Eastbourne through to Cooden Beach at the far eastern end of Pevensey Bay. This varied coastline includes chalk cliffs, long promenades, tourist and heritage hotpots, northern Europe’s largest composite marina, to long shingle beaches, popular with sailors and tourists.
The area from Pevensey Bay to Eastbourne lies within one flood cell. Currently it is managed as 2 separate sections. The 6km area from Holywell through to Langney Point is managed by Eastbourne Borough Council and is dominated by a shingle beach, which is kept in place by timber groynes. At the western end the promenade is raised above the shingle beach, whilst to the eastern end, from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) Eastbourne east, the promenade lowers to the same level as the shingle.
The area from Sovereign Harbour through to Cooden, 8.5km, is managed by the Environment Agency through a 25 year management contract which is delivered by Pevensey Coastal Defences Limited (PCDL). In 2025 the PCDL contract comes to an end and at this point the Pevensey Bay to Eastbourne Coastal Management Scheme takes over. At the end of this contract, there will be no gap in the management of this coastline.
The project will be bringing these two currently discrete sections of coastline together to manage the flood risk and coastal erosion over the next 100 years in a far more connected way.
