Solent Breezes and Chilling Foreshore, Fareham

1. Introduction

This is an advisory note which summarises the responsibilities of the local coast protection authority (Fareham Borough Council), the current coastal management policies, and outcome of a recent sea defence inspection. The aim is to share these insights with interested parties at Solent Breezes and Chilling and to clarify the current position to residents and owners of affected properties.

2. Legal Background

The Coast Protection Act 1949 delegates power to local authorities (known as coast protection authorities under the Act) to install and maintain coastal protection works to prevent coastal erosion.

This is a permissive power and not a statutory duty. As such, there is no legal obligation on Fareham Borough Council to provide coastal protection measures to prevent coastal erosion at Solent Breezes and Chilling or anywhere else. Instead, the responsibility for managing and preventing coastal erosion resides with the landowner of the area concerned, which is Solent Breezes.

2.1 Foreshore Regulating Lease

The foreshore in the vicinity of Solent Breezes from the mean high-water mark (MHW) to the mean low water mark is leased to Fareham Borough Council from the Crown Estate Commissioners (the Crown Estate owns much of the UK foreshore and seabed from the mean high water mark out to the 12-mile territorial limit).

They lease facilitates management of the foreshore along various sections of Fareham’s coastline for amenity purposes. The mean high-water mark (MHW) & also the mean low water mark are not lines fixed on a plan but will move with erosion of the land or seabed (or accretion of sand/shingle etc.).

At Solent Breezes MHW directly abuts the land and the on-going erosion has meant that MHW is moving progressively to the North. The line can be retreated, held or re-created by virtue of defence works, and whilst details of any proposed works would be passed to the agents acting for the Crown Estate, actual permission for the works would be granted by Fareham Borough as the leaseholder (subject to planning and other relevant permissions).

Permission from Fareham Borough as leaseholder can be sought by way of a letter to the Head of Estates if all other permissions are in place, for example a Marine License from the Marine Management Organisation. Fareham Borough Council Estates Team can be contacted via the Customer Service Centre: customerservicecentre@fareham.gov.uk

3. Policy Framework

3.1 Shoreline Management Plan Policy

The North Solent Shoreline Management Plan (SMP) provides a large-scale assessment of the risks associated with coastal evolution and presents a policy framework to address these risks to people and the developed, historic and natural environment in a sustainable manner.

The SMP is a non-statutory, policy document for coastal defence management planning. It takes account of other existing planning initiatives and legislative requirements and is intended to inform wider strategic planning. It does not set policy for anything other than coastal defence management. 3

The policy for the frontage between Titchfield Haven and Hook Park is one of No Active Intervention with a caveat of Holding the Line for Cross-Solent Infrastructure from present day to 2105.

The key policy driver for the majority of this largely undefended, agricultural and undeveloped frontage is to continue to allow the soft cliffs to erode and evolve naturally. This would provide a long-term natural source and supply of mixed sand and gravel to the beach levels along this and adjacent frontages.

The SMP states that ‘The short length of private defences at Solent Breezes may continue to be maintained through permissive development rights of private landowners’. It is therefore possible under the SMP2 policy to seek to maintain coastal defences at Solent Breezes through permissive development rights granted under the Coast Protection Act 1949, subject to planning permission and other licences/consents being granted by the relevant authorities. However, the SMP also states that ‘Attempting to maintain the defences at Solent Breezes could mean that the site forms a headland as the defences are outflanked. This could then interfere with the northwestern directed drift pathway that supplies sediments to Hook spit and therefore lead to its destabilisation or breaching. It may be viable to move the chalet development inland to benefit the overall health of the unit and to maintain Hook Spit.’

There are no sources of funding available from Fareham Borough Council or Hampshire County Council for sea defence works at Solent Breezes.

As stated above, as the SMP2 policy for this area is for No Active Intervention over the next 100 years, there is no likelihood of accessing public funds through the Flood Defence Grant in Aid (FDGiA) mechanism and as such, any partnership funding contribution from this source is likely to be nil.

3.2 River Hamble to Portchester Coastal Strategy

The River Hamble to Portchester Strategy (RHPS) was developed by Coastal Partners, in partnership with the engineering consultant AECOM, on behalf of Fareham and Gosport Borough Councils and was formally adopted in 2015. The RHPS provides further guidance on how the policies recommended within the NSSMP should be implemented.

Strategy Management Zone 4 of the RHPS covers the area of coastline between Hill Head Sailing Club and Warsash Maritime College. Within this, Chilling is located within Option Development Unit (ODU) 24 – Meon Shore to Hook with Warsash Nature Reserve. For ODU 24, the RHPS recommends a ‘do nothing’ approach, allowing natural processes to continue but permitting the maintenance of existing private defences as required, subject to securing the necessary planning permission, licenses and consents.

4. Existing Private Coastal Defences

This frontage is largely undefended, though there are private defences in the form of gabion baskets, a seawall and a slipway. The ownership and maintenance of these defences falls to the respective landowners. These include Solent Breezes Holiday Park, individual chalet owners and the National Grid.

An asset inspection completed by Coastal Partners Engineering Surveyors in April 2022 determined the private defences to be in overall poor condition, with several elements in a very poor or failed condition, having been worsened by Storm Eunice (18th February 2022).

The gabion baskets have failed throughout the Solent Breezes site, leaving extensive areas of the Chilling Cliffs with no coastal protection and at risk from erosion. This has resulted in wire and stone debris scattered along the foreshore, presenting a Health & Safety concern to members of the public, residents and holiday makers, which can be seen in Figure 4.1:

Due to the lack of protection provided to the main cliff by the gabion baskets, the cliff has retreated somewhat, leaving fence lines unsupported. The cliff retreat is also nearing closer to the Park Holiday’s private access road and may eventually render the road impassable.

A recent cliff slide has occurred west of the Solent Breezes main bar and entertainment complex, which has made the gabion structure at the toe of the cliff unstable and subject to further failures, also presenting health and safety concerns, as shown in Figure 4.3 below:

Significant work is required by the respective private landowners to make these areas stable and safe. If no action is undertaken by the landowner, then erosion will continue leaving the chalets at risk of collapse, as well as causing significant health and safety hazards to those walking above and below the cliff edge. The five private landowners are also encouraged to seek professional guidance on short-term and long-term coastal management adaption options for their land.

Following the private asset inspection conducted by Coastal Partners, Fareham Borough Council will notify the landowner of the need for the following urgent actions:

• Landowners to close off the failed sea defences to the public, residents and holiday makers.
• Urgent works to make safe existing / intact defences, remove all failed sections and address immediate erosion risk.
• Clear foreshore of unsafe debris immediately and make safe for public, residents and holiday makers.
• Seek guidance on coastal management adaptation options.

5. Longer-Term Adaptation

A Coastal Change Management Area (CCMA) has been designated on this frontage as part of Fareham Borough Council’s Local Plan, extending from Hook Park to Meon Shore.

CCMAs are defined as areas which are likely to be affected by coastal change, such as physical change to the shoreline through erosion, coastal landslip, permanent inundation or coastal accretion.

Any planning application for proposed development within a CCMA also needs to be accompanied by a Coastal Change Vulnerability Assessment (CCVA), demonstrating that the proposed development will be safe over the course of its lifetime and will not adversely impact upon coastal processes.

As mentioned in Section 4, there is a need for landowners to consider more appropriate longer-term solutions to adapt to the frequently changing coastline in this environment, to manage the impacts of climate change in a sustainable way and minimise negative consequences.

6. Coastal Monitoring

6.1 Channel Coastal Observatory

The Channel Coastal Observatory (CCO) coordinate the Southeast Regional Monitoring Programme on behalf of the Southern Coastal Group, funded by Defra and in partnership with Local Authorities and the Environment Agency (EA).

The programme provides consistent, regular monitoring of coastal processes, cliffs and coastal change, the data from which informs appropriate coastal management options and is publicly available on their webpage.

6.2 National Coastal Erosion Risk Map

The EA’s National Coastal Erosion Risk Map provides information on predicted erosion rates in the Short- (up to 2025), Medium- (2025 to 2055) and Long-Term (2055 to 2105) for England.