Tourism Business Guide to Understanding Coastal Change Raising awareness and providing ideas for Poole Harbour and the surrounding area This booklet has been produced for businesses in the tourism industry in Poole and the surrounding area to help raise Poole and the awareness of coastal change and how it might affect them. Surrounding Different tourist sites are illustrated that highlight aspects of coastal change as well as providing some useful facts. Area It is helpful to have a greater understanding of the local environment and the role natural processes can play At the end of the last ice Poole Harbour is a highly designated area. in benefitting or providing challenges It has: age about 18,000 years ago, within the tourism industry. • A RAMSAR site for its wetlands a river valley flooded due to • Multiple Sites of Special Scientific Interest rising sea levels as the ice (SSSI) for its range of estuarine habitats melted and oceans warmed • A Special Protection Area (SPA) for which created the diverse its internationally important wildfowl and waders Contents Symbols Key landscape we know today • The heathlands surrounding the coastline as Poole Harbour. are protected as Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) and Special 3 Poole and the Public Life Guard There are four rivers which still feed into Protection Area (SPA) Surrounding Area Toilets Poole Harbour; Frome, Piddle, Sherford and Corfe. The harbour and its bays, inlets The surrounding sea area from Studland 4-16 The Sites Viewing Bus Stop and islands have continued to be formed by to Portland is part of a SAC and is a Marine Point erosion, accretion and reclamation over the Protected Area due to its reefs with rich last 6,000 years. The harbour has been cut into biodiversity and geological variation. The Café 17-18 Coastal Change Explained easily eroded sands, clays and gravels which sand dunes and beach at Studland are part of Parking form its cliffs and provide its beaches. a National Nature Reserve (NNR) and attract 19-20 Challenges and Bird over 1 million visitors per year. The coastline Opportunities of Easy Watching The harbour itself is approximately 36km2 from Swanage and Studland Bay are also part Walks Coastal Change in area and is fairly shallow with an average of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. depth of only 48cm. The main shipping Dogs on Good Beach channel of the harbour was dredged and Wareham is home to many historical buildings 21-23 Adapting to Coastal Change Beaches Guide widened to allow larger ships to reach the and structures. The tidal Wareham channel for Tourism Businesses port; it is currently 7.5m deep. has been created by the River Frome and Play Park TIC Piddle, which flow either side of Wareham, 24-25 Links and Websites joining and flowing into Poole Harbour. 2 3 4 Site Map 2 3 1 Sandbanks 7 Arne 5 2 Harbourside Park 8 Brownsea Island 3 Poole Park 9 Southern Poole Harbour & the Islands 4 Upton Country park 7 10 Swanage 5 Hamworthy Park 8 11 Studland 1 6 Wareham 6 9 Area & Designations Key AONB Designations 11 World Heritage Site 10 © Crown Copyright 2014 OS License Number 100019790 4 5 1 2 Sandbanks Harbourside A world famous site, known for Park being one of the most expensive neighbourhoods in the world (also known as ‘Millionaires Row’) with beautiful views across Poole Bay and over to Old Harry Rocks. Highlights Harbourside Park consists Facts Golden sandy beach with shallow water of Baiter Park and Facts - perfect place for swimming Whitecliff Park. They are Coastal Change A mini road train runs along the seafront versatile places to visit Coastal Change Rock armour stretches along the park and and have excellent views is important protection for the area from Sandbanks was originally an area dominated Ideal for watersports e.g. kayaking, windsurfing or paddle boarding stormy seas as the park is only a few metres by wild heathland and sand dunes until the of Brownsea Island. above sea level. 19th Century when residential development, Beach huts for hire together with beach erosion, almost completely diminished them. Highlights History In 2006, sand dredged from the main Poole History Harbourside Park is a reclaimed landfill site Harbour channel was used to recharge which has been transformed into one of the the beach to help tourism and protect the ‘Millionaires Row’ developed from the A cycle path alongside the length of the largest and most intensively used areas of residential properties. The beach will need installation of a small building used to light Harbourside Park – it’s 7.5 miles long if recreational land in Poole. to be recharged in the future to preserve it. the harbour entrance - ironically this warned starting at Poole Quay and finishing at smugglers where the entrance was so they Upton Country Park By 2030, this low-lying area could be cut off could avoid being caught by the tax man! at certain times from the mainland because A green gym Wildlife of erosion and sea level rise. Water taxis could Up until the 1930’s most properties here were become the next commuter transport for shanties with no running water. A children’s play area Whitecliff Wood is known to support a colony the residents (Poole Bay, Poole Harbour and of the rare and endangered stag beetle, Wareham FCERM Strategy, 2013). The Sandbanks Ferry has been running BMX tracks Lucanus cervus. They use the decaying between Sandbanks and Studland since 1926. wood to lay eggs. Hook Sands, which is a sand bar at the mouth An easy path to walk alongside of the harbour, helps to minimize the wave the harbour energy that reaches Sandbanks and also A slipway to launch watersport provides sediment to the beaches at Studland. equipment from 6 7 3 4 Poole Upton Country Poole Park is a designated Park conservation area because of its architectural Park structures. It is a popular well-managed green space. Highlights Poole’s only Country Park has formal and informal gardens, The park provides shelter for gulls, woodlands and parklands. waders and ducks e.g. Ruffs or Great Crested Grebes An indoor ice-skating rink & play centre Highlights A mini road train operates during A nature trail and play trail Facts the summer from Poole Park to Poole town centre A walled garden and formal garden Coastal Change A 10 mile green gym trail Home to a diverse range of birds Reed beds have been planted in the lake to Sika deer can be spotted from the help with water quality problems from the park on Pergins Island accumulation of heavy metals discharged from industrial activities in the 20th Century. Facts Tassel Weed is an aquatic plant which can be Coastal Change Wildlife problematic as it gets tangled in boat rudders. The Pipistrelle bat can be seen in the park As sea level rises and floods the land here, It is managed by the Borough of Poole which and it’s thought that they roost in Upton Wildlife there is potential to create 19 hectares uses a blue dye to reduce the amount of House. They weigh less than a £1 coin of intertidal habitat, with landowners’ available light in the water that they can use A rare lichen, Cyphelium notarisii can be but can eat as many as 3,000 insects permission, to replace wildlife habitats to grow, therefore reducing the amount of found on a bench by the freshwater pond - in one night. Tassel Weed in the area. the bench is specially maintained to ensure lost in the area. its survival. The lichen is sometimes referred The park borders Holes Bay which is a History to as Tramp’s Lichen as it is often found on History designated Quiet Harbour Area. This park benches. is so roosting and breeding birds like Poole Park was opened in 1890 and had a Upton Estate was gifted to the Borough Oystercatchers and Curlews have an resident zoo until 1994. In its early years, the of Poole in 1957. It was opened to the undisturbed area. zoo housed a Himalayan Black Bear. public in 1976. The peacocks from the zoo were moved to The land was used as an airship sub-station Brownsea Island because their “strident calls” during WWII. disturbed the local residents. 8 9 5 Hamworthy 6 Wareham The ancient market town Park of Wareham provides an Hamworthy Park provides excellent day out or serves spectacular panoramic as a base for visiting the views of Poole Harbour Purbeck countryside. The and Brownsea Island. town dates back over 2,000 years. Highlights Facts Highlights A free paddling pool from May to October A promenade suitable for wheelchairs Coastal Change Three different riverside walks ranging and pushchairs from 2¼ to 3½ miles There is potential for an intertidal habitat Excellent beginner’s windsurfing, to be created in the Wareham floodplain Bird spotting at Swineham kayaking or canoeing area to compensate for lost habitats in Poole and Bestwall Harbour. A large adventure playground for young Historical sites such as Saxon walls, children and the Challenger Play Area Although this town is considered to be the church and local museum for older children inland, the tidal river could be affected by sea level rise as the river may flood the Boat cruise along the Frome – both up Beach hut hire surrounding areas more often. and down the river A green gym A 10 mile cycle path to Wareham forest Facts Flood embankments along the eastern fringes or the 6 mile cycle route to Arne of marshland have prevented lots of the land Coastal Change surrounding Wareham from being lost to rising water levels.