Lymington sailing organisations and RNLI voice fears over draft Environment Agency coastal strategy

REPRESENTATIVES from sailing clubs, maritime businesses and the RNLI have hit out at “misguided” and “ridiculous” plans for the future of coastal defences between Hurst Spit at Keyhaven and Lymington.

As reported, a strategy for managing flood and coastal risk over the next century is currently being developed by several agencies including the Environment Agency and New Forest District Council.

The groups, which recently met with the Environment Agency at the Royal Lymington Yacht Club to discuss the plan, are heavily critical of a proposal to ‘roll back’ the sea wall along sections of the coast.

Local sailing clubs and marine organisations say this could cause Lymington River to become unnavigable and severely affect local marine businesses.

Another element of the plan, which would see Hurst Spit maintained for the next 10 to 20 years before it is left to nature, has also been criticised by the campaign group Save Lymington and Keyhaven (Slak).

This is made up of representatives from the Royal Lymington and Lymington Town sailing clubs, Keyhaven Yacht Club, Hurst Castle Sailing Club, Wightlink, Lymington RNLI, Lymington Yacht Haven, Berthon Boat Company and Lymington Marina.

Speaking at the meeting, Lymington Harbour Advisory Group chairman and Yacht Haven representative, Rupert Wagstaff, said: “We think the managed realignment strategy will significantly impact the Lymington River and the Salterns area, but these effects are only superficially discussed.”

Don Mackenzie, of the Lymington Society, described the current draft plan as a “misguided strategy” that was “much too expensive”. He also claimed it was being adopted for the “wrong reasons”.

He warned: “I cannot see this major scheme ever getting approval and, in the meantime, the sea walls are going to be neglected.”

Mr Mackenzie added: “If it did ever take place, it brings the likelihood of flooding; and the wind-driven surges coming through the newly created salt marsh makes Lymington much more vulnerable to flooding like it was before the sea wall was built.”

The proposed realignment of coastal defences in Pennington has prompted major concerns from stakeholders. Critics claim that this, combined with a strategy to eventually halt maintenance of Hurst Spit, will allow south-westerly waves to roll directly towards Lymington during gales.

It is also feared the protection offered by an area called Jetty-Butts and Oxey Pennington, which sticks out into the Solent, will be lost if plans for managed realignment of the coastal defences together with salt marsh creation goes ahead.

Speaking on behalf of Wightlink, head of fleet operations Sam Mitchell described the service between Lymington and the western part of the Isle of Wight as a “lifeline”. He continued: ”The biggest concern is any changes to the coastline that would affect the safe navigation of the river, would shut down the route or affect its operation.

“That will have a huge impact on the Island’s population, particularly in them getting their essential supplies.”

Dylan Kalis, of Lymington Yacht Haven, revealed that it had already sent a letter of concern to all its customers. He warned: “The existing sea walls, by default, have a lack of funding. Once you have an uncontrolled breach of the sea wall, the damage could be really serious, and you end up with a lot of washout.”

Lymington councillor Barry Dunning, introducing himself as a district and county councillor and a longstanding mooring holder, said: “It seems ridiculous to me that we spend a fortune on looking after birds and all the nature out there and yet we’re not concerned about this harbour. This harbour will be in danger if the spit is breached and that’s a major concern.”

Cllr Dunning stressed: “We need Hurst Spit.”

Paul Moxey, of Hurst Castle Sailing Club, concurred that the spit must be protected. He added: “It is certainly capable of being protected from a civil engineering point of view.”

Dominic May, of Berthon Boat Company, claimed the implementation of the strategy could see Lymington River’s channel to silt-up, making navigation problematic.

He warned this could destroy Lymington’s children’s sailing programme, which has produced many Olympic medallists and world champions, including Sir Ben Ainslie.

Mr May said the strategy could also undermine Lymington as a sailing destination, leading to redundancies and weakening the economic prospects of dozens of businesses that relied on the marine economy.

Mr May said: “I am objecting to the plans on behalf of Berthon Boat Company, and its subsidiaries Lymington Marina, Berthon New Yacht Sales, BHG Marine, & Versadock, our 1,000 customers, our 150 employees, our 25 apprentices, our 205 local Lymington suppliers, our 300 local sub-contractors, and our 4,631 suppliers nationwide.”

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said that the Hurst Spit to Lymington Strategy was taking what is known as an “adaptation pathway” approach.

The EA spokesperson said: “This allows decisions regarding flood management options to remain flexible to observed and predicted changes over time.

“By regularly monitoring how sea levels, habitats and flood risk are impacted, flood management approaches can be implemented in a timely way, avoiding the cost of acting too early or too late.”