CABINET REPORT 22/01/13

Cabinet Member : Councillor William Gareth Roberts

Topic : Shoreline Management Plan 2

Liaison Officer: Huw Williams, Head of Consultancy

The decision thought/purpose of the report

Agree the policies set out in the West of Shoreline Management Plan for the Gwynedd coastline and formally adopt the plan once the IROPI Statement is approved by WG.

Adopt the SMP Action Plan.

Views of the Local Member

Not relevant.

Introduction

Background

Shoreline Management Plans (SMPs) set the high level strategic overview of the Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management of the coastline for the next 100 years.

The SMP is a non-statutory document but Welsh Government does expect each maritime unitary authority to have one in place for which they have provided grant in aid of 85% of the cost of production.

This SMP is the second generation and is known as SMP2 and builds on the information contained in SMP1 which was completed approximately 10 years ago.

The SMP does not follow political boundaries but is based on coastal cells which identify the extents of major littoral drift systems. Gwynedd Council is in coastal cells 9 and 10 with the boundary between the two being Bardsey Sound.

Each coastal cell is represented by a coastal group, cell 9 by Cardigan Bay Coastal Group and cell 10 by Ynys Enlli to Great Orme Coastal Group. The two groups collaborated to commission a consultant to undertake the production of the plan which is known as the West of Wales SMP (WoWSMP) which covers the coast between St Anne’s Head in Pembrokeshire and the Great Ormes Head in Conwy including Anglesey.

Pembrokeshire County Council was the lead authority for procuring and managing the contract on behalf of the Maritime Unitary Authorities and Environment Agency through the coastal groups. The commission was awarded to consulting engineers Royal Haskoning.

A Client Steering Group (CSG) made up of representatives from the local authorities, Environment Agency, Countryside Council for Wales, National Trust and Welsh Government has had an oversight role throughout the process.

The WoWSMP2 was undertaken in defined stages as outlined in the Defra guidance published in March 2006. The guidance ensures that for each generic management option there is an in-depth and robust assessment of economic, environmental and social factors.

Consultation

As required by the Defra guidance extensive stakeholder engagement and public consultations have been carried out.

The first round of engagement was done by sending a questionnaire to key stakeholders including local authorities, town and councils and bodies and groups with an interest in the coast.

The second round of stakeholder engagement was done by arranging meetings at key locations throughout the plan area including , , and in early 2010.

On completion of the draft plan a 3 month public consultation period commenced during May 2011. The draft plan was available on the West of Wales SMP website and further meetings were arranged at , Fairbourne, Porthmadog, Pwllheli and Felinheli. The Plan

The WoWSMP divides the coastline into 7 Coastal Areas (A to G) which are sub-divided into 19 Policy Development Zones which are further divided into 58 Management Areas with the final division being the 309 Policy Units of which 113 are in Gwynedd. A full copy of the SMP2 can be found at the following address:

 http://www.westofwalessmp.org

The guidance gives four possible generic policy options for each Policy Unit, they are:

 Hold The Line (HTL) – maintain or upgrade the level of protection provided by defences or the natural coastline.  Advance The Line (ATL) – build new defences seaward of the existing defence line.  Managed Realignment (MR) – manage the coastal processes to realign the “natural” coastline configuration, either seaward or landward of its present position.  No Active Intervention (NAI) – a decision not to invest in providing or maintaining defences or management of the coast.

The policy options are assigned to Policy Units in three epochs for the next 100 years.

The three epochs are:

1. Short term – 0 to 20 years

2. Medium term – 20 to 50 years

3. Long term – 50 to 100 years

The epochs are theoretical time frames for management purposes only and are not fixed, the length of each epoch and transition from the present one to the next will depend on how quickly sea level rise actually occurs. See Appendix 1 – Section 6 Summary and Comparison of Policy.

There is a degree of uncertainty at present regarding the rate of sea level rise. There is an upper and lower estimate which produces a range of possibilities between 1m and 2m in the next 100 years. It will take another 10 to 20 years of data to determine where we are on the graph and what the projection for the future is. However, even if the sea level rise is only 1m in the next 100 years, a very serious situation for many coastal communities, it is important to realise that it will continue to rise beyond 2112 and on into the future.

Why the Council should adopt the SMP

WG expect every maritime unitary authority in Wales to have in place a current plan for managing the shoreline for the next 100 years.

Failure to formally adopt the SMP will jeopardise the ability of Gwynedd Council to secure future grant in aid funding from WG for coast protection works, studies, etc.

The SMP should be a material consideration when assessing planning applications to ensure that current and future investments are sustainable.

Each maritime authority and the Environment Agency are expected to adopt SMP2. For Gwynedd Council to be able to pursue the collaborative working agenda it must play its part and adopt the policies and action plan recommended by SMP2.

Adopting SMP2 will provide a framework for at risk communities to work within regarding long term relocation strategies to ensure that they remain viable and sustainable going into the future.

Many of the actions in the Action Plan relate to awareness raising to start people, communities and organisations thinking about how SMP2 policies will affect them and influence broader decision making in the future.

Sea level rise caused by climate change is going to affect many coastal and estuarial communities. For a few communities such as Fairbourne the effect is going to have to be managed by relocating property owners and businesses within the next 50 years. Many other coastal communities that are not so severely affected will still have to adapt to be able to cope with higher sea levels and more frequent and intense storms.

Action Plan

The action plan is a collation of the “issues” which affect the coastline of Gwynedd as recommended by the consultants commissioned to prepare the SMP. Delivery of the SMP will be demonstrated by the progress made in undertaking the recommended actions. The default suggested start date of 2012 will have to be amended to suit in many instances. See Appendix 2 – Action Plan.

Environmental

The Defra SMP guidance states that the environmental effects of all policies must be considered before deciding which policies will be adopted. Consideration should be made with regards to both the positive and negative effects of options on wildlife and habitats, populations and health, soil, water, air, climate factors, landscape and cultural heritage.

As required by European Directive and the Environmental assessment of Plans and Programmes Regulations 2004 a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) has been undertaken of the SMP.

Where it is not possible to determine that the plan under consideration will not have an adverse effect on a European or Ramsar site then alternative solutions which avoid harming the site must be sought. If alternatives are not possible then the plan can only proceed on the basis of Imperative Reasons of Over-riding Public Importance (IROPI).

An IROPI Statement has been submitted to WG for consideration, if the application is successful then compensatory measures must be secured to offset any damage where public interest over-rides the potential negative impacts resulting from SMP policies.

Next steps and timescale

Because of the impact the Shoreline Management Plan 2 has on the Local Development Plan, meetings have taken place between members and the relevant officers. In 2013 the Head of Regulatory Department and the Head of Gwynedd Consultancy will meet regularly to ensure that the Local Development Plan and the Shoreline Management Plan 2 documents complement each other and strengthen the Local Development Plan 2013.

Linked with the Shoreline Management Plan 2, it is important for the Council to cope with the challenge now, in order to safeguard Gwynedd’s coastal communities and the local economy in the long term. To take this agenda forward, Gwynedd Consultancy will visit every coastal community in 2013 to explain the Shoreline Management Plan 2 document to them, and discuss the local effect of climate change through a rising sea level. Gwynedd Consultancy will continue discussions with the Welsh Government, Environment Agency Wales and the Countryside Council regarding the situation in Fairbourne. The community must also be fully aware of its situation and be a key part of the work plan. The greatest challenge is the seriousness of the situation, and the need to have an action plan in place that will lead to adaptations within the whole community.

Views of the Statutory Officers

Chief Executive: “It is obvious that the Shoreline Management Plan is of great importance, especially as climate change/ sea level changes have greater influence on the county. As can be seen from the vast documentation on the Website, this is extremely thorough and far-reaching work. I note that a consultation process has been undertaken on the proposals, which was very detailed, for individual areas, however it is essential that Gwynedd residents (and their representatives) in areas that are affected by these significant policy changes receive information on how the policy implications will affect them."

The Cabinet seems to understand the matter having received a presentation at the informal meeting, however it is essential that the report, and consequently the decision, is able to stand alone, as something coherent. I therefore suggest that you amend the section of the report which mentions the Plan itself so that it reads something like this. “The Plan itself is a substantial document which details the policy direction for the county’s entire shoreline, i.e. land is either subject to Holding the Line, Extending the Line, Managing Realignment of No Active Intervention. For example, for the position of beach we will hold the line until 2025, and then move to a position of managing the realignment of the coast.”

In Fairbourne, we will hold the line until 2025, and then move to a position of managing the realignment of the coast, and then move to a position of no active intervention in 2105.

Monitoring Officer: A lot of consultation work has been undertaken in preparing this plan and the Welsh Government expect to see such a plan being adopted. There are no relevant matters of propriety.

Head of Finance Department: An 85% grant had been received from the Welsh Government to prepare the Shoreline Management Plan, and the Council is funding the remainder. I support the intention now to formally adopt the Shoreline Management Plan, to enable Gwynedd Council to take advantage of the Welsh Government grants to undertake defence work, studies etc. of the coast in future.

Attachments