Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the feasibility of extending the life of existing coastal defences in Charmouth.

The feasibility of extending the life of any coastal defences or constructing new ones is considered as part of the Shoreline Management Plan (SMP) policy developed for every section of coastline. The Environment Agency is continuing to work with coastal groups on further improvements to SMPs, including updates to the management approaches where needed and providing new assessments of coastal flood and erosion risks.

Defra has committed to review national policy for shoreline management plans by 2026. This will be informed by the Environment Agency’s SMP refresh. Charmouth is part of SMP16 ‘Durlston Head to Rame Head’ developed in 2011, which was recently reviewed in the SMP refresh process and the latest action plan is currently in delivery by the SMP16 management group.