objectives
01.
save our shoreline
An urgent, nature-based offshore intervention to protect the coast from Hallsands to Strete Gate – and the vital A379 that runs beside it.
02.
save the ley
The largest natural freshwater lake in South West England, and the rare wildlife it shelters, lost forever if the Line is breached.
03.
save start bay
Restore the natural processes, and the Skerries Bank, that once fed and defended the beaches along the whole bay.
04.
save our strongly connected communities
The villages and towns bound together by the A379 coast road, from the seafront inland to Dartmouth, Kingsbridge and beyond.
05.
SAVE biodiversity and unique habitats
A Site of Special Scientific Interest and National Nature Reserve of woodland, marsh and reedbed, home to species found almost nowhere else.
06.
SAVE families, homes, businesses and local economy
The homes, livelihoods and local economy that depend on a connected, resilient coastline.
07.
SAVE the World War 2 historical site
Slapton Sands, the D-Day rehearsal ground where many servicemen lost their lives preparing for the landings.
08.
SAVE this beautiful natural asset for our children and the future
A landscape shaped over more than 11,000 years, kept safe for the generations who come after us.
our approach
Save Our Shoreline aims to examine the feasibility of, and to implement an urgent nature based offshore intervention to save the South Devon coastline from Hallsands to Strete Gate and protect the Slapton Line, the vital A379 and the unique wildlife habitat of Slapton Ley.
This vulnerable coastline is threatened by the erosion that was accelerated by the man-made dredging of the Skerries Bank at the turn of the last century to provide sand and shingle for the extension of Plymouth naval docks.
The removal of millions of tons of sand and shingle from a closed, relict, coastal system set in train a vicious cycle of damage. Rising sea levels and changing weather patterns have exacerbated this process in recent years. Reversing that dredging would not only provide a natural barrier breaking the power of the most destructive Atlantic waves but would also generate the material to replenish the beaches all along the coastline, thereby providing a sustainable and environmentally sound solution.
We aim to work with approved Coastal Engineering companies who are already involved in a range of sand and shingle offshore coastal defence interventions around the British Isles.
Our project has three phases:
Study
full professional proof of concept study including mathematical and computer modelling based on tides, currents and wind directions
Replenish
beach replenishment to the Hallsands end of the bay to provide vast quantities of identical material which will then be naturally redistributed along the length of the bay by the natural process of longshore drift
Rebuild
rebuilding the Skerries bank to restore its function as a natural wave break and shore defence
Each phase is stand alone and could be combined in a different order. The restoration of the Skerries bank as a natural wave break could take the form of replacing the lost sand and shingle or of exploring other environmentally sound options such as using boulders to create a breakwater or sanitised wrecks.
We need your help to fund the first phase: appointing an approved coastal engineering company to carry out the modelling and produce the report. We urgently need to raise £80,000 to make it happen.