Listen Live

Exmouth beach likely to need new sand

Saturday, 25 August 2018 09:33

By Daniel Clark, local democracy reporter scheme, and Radio Exe News

Edge of Exmouth sand dunes in 2007 (courtesy: Keith Williams)

"Beach recharge" expected between 2020 and 2025

Exmouth beach is expected to be depleted over the next few years, meaning more sand will need to be imported before 2025. A beach management plan agreed some time ago recommends recycling material of former dunes to reinforce the beach between the RNLI lifeboat station and Orcombe Point.

It's nearly five years since Exmouth's sand dunes were completely swept away in storms - the same ones that destroyed the railway line across the estuary at Dawlish. Recent visitors have found themselves asking where the dunes have gone. The smooth, gradual drop of the sand dunes was initially replaced with a 15-20ft-high cliff-like appearance facing out to sea and at least 6ft has disappeared from the front of the sandy ‘wall’ – and now the sand dunes are a thing of the past.

So what happened?

The sand dunes were initially damaged in October 2004 by storm-force winds. The then Exmouth mayor Cllr Trevor Cope said: “The sand and marram grass is the town’s first and best defence and much of it has gone in the storms.  I cannot work out where all the sand has gone and if we get hit by another storm, the town could be in real trouble.”

Fears were raised by residents that the dunes may not recover, but both Natural England and East Devon District Council were confident they would.

Cllr Ray Franklin, portfolio holder for environment at East Devon District Council back in 2004, said:  “The dunes will recover; it’s the way of nature. Sand has been lost, but it’s likely that the next storm will come from a different direction and bring more sand with it.”

February 2014 washed away remaining dunes

The marram grass did usually hold the dunes together as it fibrous and matted roots would bind the sand, but the sheer scale and power of the storms, that also demolished the Dawlish rail line, was simply too much for the dunes and they were obliterated.

East Devon District Council at the time said that there was nothing it could have done to prevent the loss of the dunes, and a spokesman added that inspections revealed that they are unlikely to recover naturally following the storms of 2013/2014, and contrary to the popular belief, they didn’t actually help protect the town.

The spokesman said: “One of the major changes that has taken place is that the naturally occurring sand dunes on the seafront have disappeared. Initially they were damaged in 2004 and then it seems that a storm in 2014 washed the rest of them away. The dunes had become isolated from the main dune system in the Maer over time, with the development of roads and seawalls along this stretch of Exmouth seafront."

 

More from Local News