1. Strategic Regional Coastal Monitoring Programme in England
Wales Coastal and Maritime Partnership
Northern Ireland Coastal and Marine Forum
Marine Scotland Strategic Plan
Cherith Moses

2. Data requirements and strategic monitoring
Introduction
Coastal groups and shoreline management plans
Data requirements and strategic monitoring
(Southeast England)
National strategic regional coastal monitoring programme
Data management centre
New Forest District Council
University of Southampton
National Oceanography Centre

3. Coastal management in England and Wales: Shoreline Management Plans.
‘A Shoreline Management Plan (SMP) provides a large-scale assessment of the risks associated with coastal processes and presents a policy framework to reduce these risks to people and the developed, historic and natural environment in a sustainable manner.’ DEFRA (2001, p1).
17 CDGs covering 98% of the coastline
By 1994 the current pattern in place
To assist defra in policy formulation (national policy responsibility defra since 2001) (
‘A sediment cell is defined as a length of coastline which is relatively self-contained as far as the movement of sand or shingle is concerned and where interruption to such movement should not have a significant effect on adjacent sediment cells’ (MAFF, 1995).

4. Each Coastal Group has a lead authority and the membership includes:
DEFRA
SMPs are drawn up by a process of:
consultation
data collection
analysis
setting overall objectives
plan preparation.

5. The subcell boundaries are ‘not definitive;
they are based on best available knowledge of large scale processes’
(MAFF 1995, p1).
For example, major cell 5 is subdivided into the following subcells:
5A SELSEY BILL TO PORTSMOUTH HARBOUR
5B PORTSMOUTH HARBOUR TO SOUTHAMPTON
5C SOUTHAMPTON TO HURST SPIT
5D THE NEEDLES TO FORELAND, ISLE OF WIGHT
5E FORELAND TO THE NEEDLES, ISLE OF WIGHT
5F HURST SPIT TO DURLSTON HEAD
5G DURLSTON HEAD TO PORTLAND BILL
Subcell 4d: Selsey Bill to Beachy Head (

6. Each subcell is then further divided into ‘management units’:
‘A management unit is a length of shoreline with coherent characteristics in terms both of natural coastal processes and land use’ (MAFF, 1995).

7. Current status – 2008 onwards
The Environment Agency’s Strategic Overview includes the intention to strengthen the vote of Coastal Groups by establishing:-
Fewer, bigger and more strategic groups.
A review of Coastal Group boundaries having regard to River Basin Management Plans and sediment cells.
Clear and consistent terms of reference and membership.
Coastal Groups influencing the annual programme of works via the Regional Flood Defence Committees (RFDCs).
Consistent and strong Environment Agency input.

8. Currently 7 Coastal Groups

9. Strategic coastal monitoring
In England the strategic regional coastal monitoring programme commenced in August 2002; an initiative involving 31 Local Authority and Environment Agency partners in south-east England (1000 km).
The programme, which is grant-aided by Defra, has now extended across England with the aim of providing a consistent, repeatable and cost effective method of monitoring the coast to inform coastal risk management:
- strategic shoreline management plans,
- coastal defence strategies
- operational management of coastal protection and flood defence.
In December 2008 a project board for the national monitoring programme was established to develop and implement the programme from 2011 onwards.
Marine Science Coordination committee

10. Scales of monitoring 10

11. Baseline topographic surveys of the whole region
* Baseline topographic surveys of the whole region * Baseline hydrographic surveys of the whole region, * GPS control network * Annual 1:5000 aerial surveys and photogrammetric profiling * Production of digital orthophotos in years one and five * LIDAR surveys of cliffed, estuarine and inaccessible beach coastlines * Regular (annual or biannual) beach profile surveys * Spot height surveys and digital terrain models at beach management plan sites * Post storm surveys at selected sites * Annual bathymetric profile surveys at selected hold the line sites * Low level aerial surveys at selected sites * Met-office offshore hindcast wave data at 15 sites and wave transformation of offshore time-series to 35 nearshore sites * Wave time series of Hs and Tz from 8 existing and new nearshore wave recorders * Tidal time series from 16 local tide gauges and five "class A" stations

12. The new national network will run 2011-2015 and will provide the following data:
a. Bathymetric surveys
b. Topographic surveys
c. Aerial surveys
d. Lidar surveys
e. Ecological mapping
f. Hydrodynamic data collection
g. Analytical services

13. The Channel Coastal Observatory (CCO) is the data management and regional coordination centre for the Southeast Regional Coastal Monitoring Programme.
data management centre for the Regional Coastal Monitoring Programmes and is hosted by New Forest District Council, in partnership with the University of Southampton and the National Oceanography Centre

14. Strategic Regional Coastal Monitoring Programme
in England
Coastal groups and shoreline management plans
Data requirements and strategic monitoring
National strategic regional coastal monitoring programme
Data management centre