News update: Langstone to Wade Lane

This summer improvement work will be carried out by Hampshire County Council and Havant Borough Council to:

  • Repair and maintain the Langstone Mill Pond Wall and 
  • Install a boardwalk across the damaged section of the coastal path towards Wade Lane.

The works will deliver the commitment to maintain the Mill Pond Wall and keep the coastal path along its current route via a boardwalk to Wade Lane for the medium term.

Langstone Mill Pond Wall Langstone Mill Pond Wall

History of the Site

In 2024, following extensive public consultation, a consensus was reached on the medium-term future of the sea defences between Langstone Millpond and Wade Lane. The improvement works agreed will be completed by late September 2025.

In 2022 Storm Eunice caused sections of the sea wall between Langstone Mill Pond and Wade Lane to collapse. Local authorities and organisations have been working together to determine an effective medium-term solution (25 years) for the location.

In 2023 Chichester Harbour Conservancy commissioned an independent Technical Report by Royal Haskoning DHV to advise on the options for the site.

The Technical Report identified that taking into account sea level rise, the Mill Pond wall will regularly overtop by 2050. For the Wade Lane stretch the report said, there were no properties at risk of flooding until at least 2100. 

The Report was published, and an open drop-in session attended by over 70 local residents was held at the Havant Borough Council office for the public to consider the options:

A) to roll the coastal footpath back behind the Lymbourne Stream, to the existing route, when it is no longer safe to walk the coastal route 

B) build a boardwalk through the privately-owned paddock so as to realign the footpath inland

C) build a wooden boardwalk/bridge along the existing path so that access is maintained for the next 25 years. 

Option C, build a wooden boardwalk/bridge along the existing path, was the preference of the written public feedback collected by Chichester Harbour Conservancy.

Option B has been eliminated as the land is in private ownership. Option A remains the fallback position if Option C cannot be delivered.

Delivering the Project

Following the consultation process, in 2024 a Statement of Common Ground was agreed between Havant Borough Council, Hampshire County Council, Chichester Harbour Conservancy, Natural England, and the Environment Agency, outlining the direction of travel.

In 2025 Funding was secured from Havant Borough Council to repair the sea wall around the Mill Pond. This works will take place in the summer. Meanwhile Rangers from Chichester Harbour Conservancy will clear the rubble from the old wall, and the unauthorised white sandbags from the foreshore, which were illegally distributed. 

Hampshire County Council have taken ownership of the project and commissioned a ground investigation and a topographical survey. Plans have been developed to replace the surface of the existing path with a boardwalk, held down by timber piles. This solution will ensure the needs of the natural environment are met and the existing access along the coastal frontage will be maintained until 2050.

Hampshire County Council will implement the boardwalk project, with a target completion date of late September 2025. The earth bank, which the path presently sits on, will not be excavated beyond what is required to facilitate installation.

The importance of finding Nature Based Solutions

Today, around two-thirds of the 53 miles of coastline around Chichester Harbour are hard sea defences, including rip-rap boulders, brickwork sea walls, timber piles, and concrete armour-loc. As we deal with the impacts of climate change, and specifically sea level rise, we need to adapt our infrastructure to cope with future demands and we also need to adapt our thinking to new ways of living and working to continue to balance the needs of leisure, recreation alongside the conservation of nature in the harbour.

In 2021 Natural England published its Condition Review of Chichester Harbour Sites and downgraded the status of the Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) to unfavourable declining condition. One of the reasons was because Chichester Harbour has lost 58% of its saltmarsh since 1946. The Review recommended that low lying land around the harbour should be safeguarded for future saltmarsh restoration by realigning sea defences. Saltmarsh is valuable habitat and helps with climate change by sequestering carbon.

Protected for the future

The nature based solution achieved at Langstone will both meet the commitment to maintain the Mill Pond Wall, maintain access along the current route of the coastal path and of the 2021 Chichester Harbour Condition Review.

Details of the Independent Assessment report, process  and joint statement are available on the Coastal Partners website. Click here to view.

This stretch of coast path will be part of the King Charles III England Coastal Footpath. Read more at King Charles III England Coast Path - National Trails.