Jurassic Coast is given £376,500 boost (From Dorset Echo)

Jurassic Coast is given £376,500 boost

7:30am Tuesday 8th December 2009 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
• Comments(4)

DORSET’S Jurassic Coast is set to benefit from a £376,500 cash injection to help combat erosion and rising sea levels posed by climate change.

Dorset County Council environment chiefs teamed up with their East Devon counterparts to bid for a share of millions of pounds of Government cash.

The cash will be used on projects to benefit Preston Beach in Weymouth, Ringstead, Charmouth, Seatown and Swanage.

Hilary Cox, Dorset’s cabinet member for environment, said: “We are delighted that our bid has been successful.

“The coastal communities of Dorset and East Devon have lived with dynamic change for generations but it is clear that the risks and impacts from erosion, storms and rising sea levels are going to increase in future.”

The money, from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ (Defra) Coastal Change Pathfinder Fund, will be used to support a range of activities aimed at helping communities along the Jurassic Coast to better understand and adapt to the perceived impacts of coastal change.

The cash won’t be going on physically upgrading sea defences but will bankroll strategies and contingency plans for ‘at risk’ areas.

This includes using state-of-the-art media to highlight the extent of coastal erosion, establishing ‘coastal change champions’ to shape debate at local level and developing training programmes for conservationists.

Swanage is one of six sites in Dorset and East Devon highlighted as most vulnerable to climate change.

The other fives areas are located further west from Purbeck.

Coun Cox added: “The funding will help take the future discussions we are having with the communities most at risk from these changes to a new level, helping us to visualise what change may look like and develop options to adapt.”

Last May a huge landslide destroyed 400 metres of world heritage coastline near Lyme Regis.