Gibraltar Point to Hunstanton SMP4
General actions for this SMP
This shows the actions generic to the whole of this SMP. For further actions relating to specific locations, select an area on the map above or use the postcode/location search and click on the Action Plan tab.
All actions are subject to funding and approval, often by other parties than the Lead Organisation shown.
| Reference Number | Action Description | Action Lead Organisation | Action Progress Status | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Use periodic Client Steering Group (CSG) and Elected Members Forum (EMF) meetings to ensure formal tracking of the SMP action plan and the communication of findings from specific studies/monitoring back to key stakeholders. | Environment Agency | Progressing | High |
| 0.3 | Ensure that local and regional development planning documents take account of SMP management approaches and flood/erosion risks. | Local Planning Authorities | Complete | High |
| 0.8 | Continue delivery of the Anglian Coastal Monitoring Programme to collect data on the shoreline throughout the Wash so that erosion/accretion changes can be established as well as habitat mapping. | Environment Agency | Progressing | High |
| 0.9 | Update key SMP information using outcomes from the Hunstanton Coastal Management Plan, Wash East Coastal Management Strategy (WECMS) and other studies. | Environment Agency | Planned/programmed | Medium-high |
| 1.7 | Carry out a strategic study into potential sites for localised realignment and habitat restoration for the medium to long term timeframes of the SMP including technical (defence sustainability), economic, social, environmental, and historic environment aspects. | Environment Agency | Not yet started | Medium-high |
| 0.2 | Continue consulation with key stakeholders and general public in the period up to 2055(progress of the action plan; conveying messages around flood and erosion risk, potential coastal change). | Environment Agency | Progressing | Medium |
| 0.4 | Develop, monitor and review emergency response plans to prepare for extreme events that exceed standard. | Local authorities | Progressing | Medium |
| 0.5 | Continue with improvements to flood risk maps and innundation modelling to provide improved flood warning service. | Environment Agency | Progressing | Medium |
| 0.10 | Develop a trend report on shoreline dynamics every 10 years based on coastal monitoring data. | Environment Agency | Planned/programmed | Medium |
| 1.6 | Integrated flood risk management strategy (coastal and fluvial) for the Fens. This may be replaced by an integrated SMP / CFMP level Flood Risk Management Plan. | Environment Agency | Complete | Medium |
| 1.8 | Upgrade / update Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey (RCZAS) for Norfolk. | English Heritage | On hold | Medium |
| 1.9 | Investigate the role and management of secondary defences in this SMP to determine their completeness and condition, their impact and desired role, to inform flood risk management and land use planning. There will also need to be a review of the legal process to establish the secondary defences as formal defences. | Environment Agency | Complete | Medium |
| 1.13 | Monitoring to ensure that the intertidal development trends are consistent with assumption made in the SMP. | Environment Agency | Complete | Medium |
| 0.12 | Update the Strategic Environmental Assessment for the SMP to ensure it reflects any changes made to the Plan’s management intent or impacts of existing management intent on Highly Protected Marine Areas, Marine Conservation Zones and SSSIs. | SMP4 Management Group | Not yet started | Medium |
| 0.13 | Carry out a strategic-level review of the Habitats Regulations Assessment of the SMP to ensure it reflects any changes made to the Plan’s management intent or impacts of existing management intent on newly designated protected European Sites. | SMP4 Management Group | Not yet started | Medium |
| 0.14 | Carry out a strategic-level review to ensure the SMP reflects the opportunities to meet objectives set out in the River Basin Management Plan coving the SMP’s Transitional and Coastal Waters. | Environment Agency | Not yet started | Medium |
| 0.11 | Develop a means of data sharing between all organisations so data relating to dredging, wind farms, climate change and environmental impacts can be better assessed. | All organisations | Progressing | Medium-low |
| 1.3 | Carry out a study to reduce uncertainty with respect to the predictions of saltmarsh / mudflat development and to enable predictions of habitat change to be more accurate. | Environment Agency | Not yet started | Medium-low |
| 1.5 | Undertake high level study to clarify the importance of agricultural land for food security in relation to habitat requirements. | Defra | Not yet started | Medium-low |
| 1.1 | Carry out a study to assess the impact of the medium- and long-term policies on the fisheries operating within The Wash. This will be informed by monitoring. | Environment Agency | Not yet started | Medium-low |
| 0.6 | Ensure the key contents of the SMP are integrated into the Flood Risk Management Plan (coastal and fluvial) for this area. | Environment Agency | Complete | |
| 0.7 | Ensure that the SMP policies and their implementation comply with the forthcoming Flood and Water Management Act and the Flood Risk Regulations (2009). | Environment Agency | Complete | |
| 1.4 | Update of agricultural land grade classification. | Defra | Complete |
Download SMP documents
The information on this website represents the current SMP management approaches adopted by the local authorities within its area, and current actions needed to deliver them. These management approaches have been approved by the Environment Agency under its Strategic Overview for coastal flood and erosion risk management and are considered to be local policy.
The documents below provide the full SMP adopted locally and approved by the Environment Agency at the time of publication. Some of the information has changed in response to new government policy, new evidence or new work identified.
Data on this page
Main report
- The SMP Main Report
- Appendix A - SMP Development
- Appendix B - Stakeholder Engagement
- Appendix C - Baseline Processes
- Appendix D - Thematic Review
- Appendix E - Policy Development & Appraisal
- Appendix F - Shoreline Interactions & Responses
- Appendix G - Policy Appraisal
- Appendix H - Economics
- Appendix I - Bibliographic Database
- Appendix J - Sustainability Appraisal Signposting
- Appendix K - Water Framework Directive Assessment
- Appendix L(i) - Strategic Environmental Assessment
- Appendix L(ii) - Addendum to the Strategic Environmental Assessment
- Appendix M - Appropriate Assessment
Non-technical summary
About this SMP
This Shoreline Management Plan (SMP) covers the coastline between Gibraltar Point in Lincolnshire and the Cliffs at Old Hunstanton in Norfolk.
You can read the full SMP document by selecting the Download tab. This SMP was completed in 2010 and received formal adoption and sign off from relevant local authorities and the Environment Agency.
Managing shorelines in this area
The SMP for this area presents agreed approaches to managing the risk of coastal flooding and erosion at the shoreline and in estuaries over the short, medium, and long term, considering the implications of climate change.
In some locations, the approaches set out in the SMP change over time, for example from holding the current shoreline position with defences to realigning it or allowing the coast to change more naturally.
The SMP shows where this may affect people, property or the natural environment and the action plan includes measures to manage the local effects of coastal change. Local development planning can then be used to help avoid or address these effects, for example by identifying where new or relocated buildings can be built and defining any conditions to promote safety or sustainability. More localised Coastal Strategies may also be developed to identify how the approach in the SMP should be funded and implemented in more detail. You can find these under the Related Links tab for the SMP.
The objectives of the SMP can be found in the national SMP Guidance document (Volume 1, section 2.1). In summary, they are to identify preferred approaches for:
- managing flood and erosion risk to existing properties and other assets
- identifying approaches that are economically, technically and environmentally sustainable
- protecting and enhancing the natural features and character of the coast through these approaches where possible
Managing inland flood risk
To find out more about managing future flood risk inland, see the Flood Risk Management Plan.
Developing this SMP
The group that developed and agreed this SMP included:
- Borough Council of King's Lynn & West Norfolk
- Boston Borough Council
- East Lindsey District Council
- Lincolnshire Country Council
- Norfolk County Council
- South Holland District Council
- English Heritage
- Environment Agency
- National Farmers Union
- Natural England
- Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)
- Wash Estuary Strategy Group
- Water Management Alliance
The group consulted the public and engaged with a range of stakeholders interested in the area’s coastal management while developing this SMP. The SMP was approved by the Environment Agency and formally adopted by each local authority. You can find further details of how the group developed the SMP in Appendix B of the document. This can be found by selecting the Download tab.