Cookies help us to understand how you use our website so that we can provide you with the best experience when you are on our site. To find out more, read our privacy policy and cookie policy.
Manage Cookies
A cookie is information stored on your computer by a website you visit. Cookies often store your settings for a website, such as your preferred language or location. This allows the site to present you with information customized to fit your needs. As per the GDPR law, companies need to get your explicit approval to collect your data. Some of these cookies are ‘strictly necessary’ to provide the basic functions of the website and can not be turned off, while others if present, have the option of being turned off. Learn more about our Privacy and Cookie policies. These can be managed also from our cookie policy page.
Strictly necessary cookies(always on):
Necessary for enabling core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies. This cannot be turned off. e.g. Sign in, Language
Analytics cookies:
Analytical cookies help us to analyse user behaviour, mainly to see if the users are able to find and act on things that they are looking for. They allow us to recognise and count the number of visitors and to see how visitors move around our website when they are using it. Tools used: Google Analytics
Social media cookies:
We use social media cookies from Facebook, Twitter and Google to run Widgets, Embed Videos, Posts, Comments and to fetch profile information.
The purpose of the Pevensey Bay to Eastbourne Coastal Management Scheme is to increase the resilience of the area between Cooden Beach and Holywell to coastal flooding and erosion over the next 100 years.
This is an important response to the escalating climate emergency. It is one of the largest coastal flood risk projects in the country and will be delivered by the Environment Agency in partnership with Eastbourne Borough Council, East Sussex County Council, Rother District Council, Wealden District Council, JBA Consulting and VolkerStevin.
The scheme aims to provide protection from coastal flooding and erosion to:
up to 18,000 properties (homes and businesses)
key infrastructure including transport and utilities
heritage sites
nature conservation areas
In addition, we aim to:
increase biodiversity by 20%
reduce carbon emissions generated in managing the coastline by at least 45% by 20301
deliver wider community benefits.
The project covers 15km of coastline between Holywell, to the west of Eastbourne, through to Cooden Beach. The coastline is varied featuring chalk cliffs, shingle beaches, long promenades, heritage sites and a large marina. It is a popular destination for locals and tourists alike.
Why is the scheme needed?
Sea levels are predicted to rise by more than a metre over the next 100 years and storms are expected to become more frequent2 increasing the risk from coastal flooding and erosion.
If we do not update our approach to managing the coastline over time, the chance of defence failure (breach) will increase. In addition, the chance of water flowing over the defences will increase. The scheme will model predicted future coastal conditions and deliver a plan to adapt, as the threat increases, to ensure continued resilience to coastal flooding.
What would happen if the defences fail?
A breach (a gap in the defence caused by the beach eroding in a storm) could allow the sea to flow inland at high tide and cause extensive damage with lasting impact on lives and livelihoods. Due to the low elevation of land behind the defences a breach at any location along the 15km coastline may flood a much wider area.
The map below shows the area (flood cell) at risk of flooding following a storm breach if we don’t improve the defences to provide the same standard of protection as sea levels rise. The flood area increases over time based on predicted sea level changes.
Animation showing modelled storm flood water extents without scheme interventions3,4,5
How is the management of the coastline changing?
The frontage has been managed as two separate sections since 2000. Eastbourne Borough Council have managed the coastline between Holywell and Langney Point. Pevensey Coastal Defences Limited (PCDL) have managed the section from Sovereign Harbour to Cooden Beach on behalf of the Environment Agency.
In 2025 the PCDL contract ends, after which the Pevensey Bay to Eastbourne Coastal Management Scheme takes over. There will be no gap in the management of this coastline.
From 2027 the 15km frontage will be managed as one section reflecting the connected nature of the flood cell to allow a more holistic management approach to be taken.
The below chart gives an overview of the indicative scheme timeline. A more detailed timeline can be viewed here.
Scheme timeline overview
Why are we taking a phased approach?
Climate change will have a wide range of impacts in coastal areas and there is no single solution to increasing resilience to flood risk. Forecasts suggest that sea level will rise by up to 1.15m by 2100 but uncertainties remain.
Taking a phased approach (referred to as adaptation pathways) allows interventions to be taken at the right time, avoiding the cost of acting too early or too late. We can put in place defences that reduce the risk of flooding and erosion in the medium-term, whilst planning for the long-term, so that we are ready to deliver protection against a higher sea level when that becomes necessary. It means we stay ahead of, and on top of, the risk whilst not providing over-engineered solutions in the present. This also means we can keep the things we love about life along the coast for as long as possible whilst we work out a new relationship with higher sea levels.
How will the scheme be funded?
We have funding in place to develop the scheme in more detail. We aim to secure funding to deliver each phase from government. This funding is known as Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Grant in Aid (FCERM GiA). Eastbourne Borough Council is a contributing partner and other funding sources are being sought.
Footnotes
Compared to annual emissions from beach management in 2019
‘Standard of protection’ is defined by the size of storm event that the defence is designed to withstand. Storm size is expressed as a probability of that event happening. So a winter storm that we’d expect to occur every year would be a 1 in 1 year or 100% occurrence (even though we may have some years without one and others with more than one)
Flood modelling showing a Do-Nothing scenario and 0.5% Annual Exceedance Probability storms (a 1 in 200 year storm)
Flood extents shown are based on a hypothetical scenario of defences not being maintained and ceasing to work effectively.
The purpose of the Pevensey Bay to Eastbourne Coastal Management Scheme is to increase the resilience of the area between Cooden Beach and Holywell to coastal flooding and erosion over the next 100 years.
This is an important response to the escalating climate emergency. It is one of the largest coastal flood risk projects in the country and will be delivered by the Environment Agency in partnership with Eastbourne Borough Council, East Sussex County Council, Rother District Council, Wealden District Council, JBA Consulting and VolkerStevin.
The scheme aims to provide protection from coastal flooding and erosion to:
up to 18,000 properties (homes and businesses)
key infrastructure including transport and utilities
heritage sites
nature conservation areas
In addition, we aim to:
increase biodiversity by 20%
reduce carbon emissions generated in managing the coastline by at least 45% by 20301
deliver wider community benefits.
The project covers 15km of coastline between Holywell, to the west of Eastbourne, through to Cooden Beach. The coastline is varied featuring chalk cliffs, shingle beaches, long promenades, heritage sites and a large marina. It is a popular destination for locals and tourists alike.
Why is the scheme needed?
Sea levels are predicted to rise by more than a metre over the next 100 years and storms are expected to become more frequent2 increasing the risk from coastal flooding and erosion.
If we do not update our approach to managing the coastline over time, the chance of defence failure (breach) will increase. In addition, the chance of water flowing over the defences will increase. The scheme will model predicted future coastal conditions and deliver a plan to adapt, as the threat increases, to ensure continued resilience to coastal flooding.
What would happen if the defences fail?
A breach (a gap in the defence caused by the beach eroding in a storm) could allow the sea to flow inland at high tide and cause extensive damage with lasting impact on lives and livelihoods. Due to the low elevation of land behind the defences a breach at any location along the 15km coastline may flood a much wider area.
The map below shows the area (flood cell) at risk of flooding following a storm breach if we don’t improve the defences to provide the same standard of protection as sea levels rise. The flood area increases over time based on predicted sea level changes.
Animation showing modelled storm flood water extents without scheme interventions3,4,5
How is the management of the coastline changing?
The frontage has been managed as two separate sections since 2000. Eastbourne Borough Council have managed the coastline between Holywell and Langney Point. Pevensey Coastal Defences Limited (PCDL) have managed the section from Sovereign Harbour to Cooden Beach on behalf of the Environment Agency.
In 2025 the PCDL contract ends, after which the Pevensey Bay to Eastbourne Coastal Management Scheme takes over. There will be no gap in the management of this coastline.
From 2027 the 15km frontage will be managed as one section reflecting the connected nature of the flood cell to allow a more holistic management approach to be taken.
The below chart gives an overview of the indicative scheme timeline. A more detailed timeline can be viewed here.
Scheme timeline overview
Why are we taking a phased approach?
Climate change will have a wide range of impacts in coastal areas and there is no single solution to increasing resilience to flood risk. Forecasts suggest that sea level will rise by up to 1.15m by 2100 but uncertainties remain.
Taking a phased approach (referred to as adaptation pathways) allows interventions to be taken at the right time, avoiding the cost of acting too early or too late. We can put in place defences that reduce the risk of flooding and erosion in the medium-term, whilst planning for the long-term, so that we are ready to deliver protection against a higher sea level when that becomes necessary. It means we stay ahead of, and on top of, the risk whilst not providing over-engineered solutions in the present. This also means we can keep the things we love about life along the coast for as long as possible whilst we work out a new relationship with higher sea levels.
How will the scheme be funded?
We have funding in place to develop the scheme in more detail. We aim to secure funding to deliver each phase from government. This funding is known as Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Grant in Aid (FCERM GiA). Eastbourne Borough Council is a contributing partner and other funding sources are being sought.
Footnotes
Compared to annual emissions from beach management in 2019
‘Standard of protection’ is defined by the size of storm event that the defence is designed to withstand. Storm size is expressed as a probability of that event happening. So a winter storm that we’d expect to occur every year would be a 1 in 1 year or 100% occurrence (even though we may have some years without one and others with more than one)
Flood modelling showing a Do-Nothing scenario and 0.5% Annual Exceedance Probability storms (a 1 in 200 year storm)
Flood extents shown are based on a hypothetical scenario of defences not being maintained and ceasing to work effectively.
Animation showing modelled storm flood water extents without scheme interventions3,4,5
Scheme timeline overview