A Case Study Documenting: The UK south-east regional strategic coastal monitoring programme

The south-east coast of England is characterised by low-lying land susceptible to both flooding and erosion as a result of rising sea levels and soft sedimentary geology. This combined with extensive coastal development, means that the management of the coastal zone is essential. Shoreline Management Plans and coastal strategy studies have highlighted the need for a more standard approach to coastal monitoring in order maximise the use of data and to provide best value. The coastline of England and Wales is subdivided into coastal cells for the purposes of shoreline management planning (Motyka and Brampton, 1993) of which the South-East Strategic Regional Coastal Monitoring Programme covers approximately 1000km within Coastal Cells 4 and 5 between Portland Bill and the Isle of Grain. The recent approach to coastal monitoring has been both ad-hoc and unsatisfactory within the southeast of England, and elsewhere in the UK; this is evident at both regional and local scales. Data collection and analysis methodologies have been inconsistent, and coordination has been poor.The South-East Strategic Regional Coastal Monitoring Programme was introduced as a means of providing a standard, repeatable and cost-effective method of monitoring the coastal environment. It provides information for development of strategic shoreline management plans, coastal defence strategies and operational management of coastal protection and flood defence.Messin