Steart

 

Key issues at Steart

The Steart peninsula has been prone to flooding for centuries, with the most severe recent floods in 1981.

A combination of coastal erosion, sea level rise and wave action had led to the 15km of existing sea defences at Steart becoming fragile and at risk of failure.

As a result, the option of moving the sea defences back and creating a more sustainable way of managing flood risk is now being considered.

This would also allow the creation of new inter-tidal habitat, which could help compensate for loss of this important wetland environment elsewhere in the Severn Estuary.

The inter-tidal habitat would also help improve flood protection to communities on the peninsula.

 

What’s happening now?

Consultation on the preferred option - to set back the defences and create the new wetland habitat by breaching the Parrett Banks – began in 2008.

Feedback is being gathered from stakeholders, including conservation bodies, local authorities, NGOs, parish councils and the general public.

Consultation is continuing, and we have recently held four public drop-in sessions to keep people in the affected communities up-to-date with developments.

Next Steps

An application for Defra funding for the scheme is being made later this year.

We will keep our stakeholders up to date over the next 12 months via newsletters, specialist working groups and meetings with the parish councils and the Steart residents’ group.

You can also keep up to date with what is happening, and give your feedback, through this site.

We are planning to hold our next public drop-in session summer 2011, where we will start to share the detailed design of our preferred scheme option.

Links

Environment Agency

Consultation Display Boards (PDF)