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Following a detailed funding bid, the Environment Agency has granted £2.9 million to take the Selsey Coastal Scheme to the Outline Design and Options Appraisal stage.
The funding has been allocated to essential ground investigations, flood modelling, and environmental assessments. This work will help investigate suitable and sustainable options and designs for new sea defences along 4 km of Selsey seafront.
The feasibility assessment looking at Selsey’s Coastal Defences stated in the October 2023 update has now been carried out. Next steps and recommendations are now being prepared for the Chichester District full council meeting in January 2024.
The Selsey Peninsula is an exposed coastline with a long history of coastal flood and erosion risk. Before the construction of the existing seawalls in the 1950’s Selsey had one of the fastest-eroding coastlines in England. Hard-engineered defences were built to reduce the risk to Selsey from both tidal flooding and erosion. As these defences are reaching the end of their life, repair and maintenance is becoming more frequent and costly. Work is progressing on a feasibility assessment looking at Selsey’s Coastal Defences. Preliminary work has looked at the risks, responsibilities and benefits of a scheme and also the challenges in managing the current aging seawalls. The information will be used to inform a detailed business case to support a funding application for the next stage of option appraisal and outline design. As we head towards the winter the Residents are encouraged to find out how they can help to protect against flooding. This includes signing up for flood warnings: www.gov.uk/sign-up-for-flood-warnings. An article on this will be included in the winter issue of the council’s ‘initiatives’ magazine. Find out more here Protecting Yourself Against Flooding — Coastal Partners and from our FAQs.