A new map-based digital tool will make plans for shoreline management easier to access, understand and use for coastal practitioners and the public alike, the Environment Agency has announced today.

The Environment Agency and coastal protection authorities have developed the Shoreline Management Plan Explorer in partnership, working together through Coastal Groups

SMP Explorer forms part of broader work to ensure Shoreline Management Plans are fit to 2100 and beyond

The Shoreline Management Plan (SMP) Explorer will enable coastal practitioners and local planners to find the information they need more easily. It will also improve the Environment Agency’s ability to monitor the risks of flooding and erosion around England’s coasts throughout this century.

New content will regularly be added to the tool to keep it up to date, starting with improved National Coastal Erosion Risk Mapping later in 2024.

While aimed at coastal practitioners, the SMP Explorer is also available to the public, helping to promote understanding of the risks of coastal flooding and erosion, alongside the management approaches and actions being taken along the coast.

Julie Foley, Director of Flood Risk Strategy & National Adaptation at the Environment Agency, commented:

“1.9 million homes in England are currently at risk of coastal flooding and erosion. In all future climate scenarios, we’ll experience a continued rise in sea level well into the next century, so it is vital that we help policy makers and practitioners to plan and adapt to a changing climate.

“Bringing the world-leading Shoreline Management Plans to life via the SMP Explorer will make their use plain sailing and enable well-informed decisions about the future management of our treasured coastline.”

Stewart Rowe, Chair of the Coastal Group Network, said:

“It is great to see the SMP Explorer go live. Shoreline Management Plans have changed format considerably from the hand-drawn versions of the 1990s to the more modern but not interactive noughties versions to the current refreshed and updated SMP Explorer digital versions. It’s been quite a journey and an amazing transformation.

“The new SMP Explorer presents the information in an easily accessible, digitised online format, which will greatly assist all users of coastal information helping to manage our constantly changing coastline now and into the future.”

Launching the SMP Explorer fulfils a commitment set out in the Environment Agency’s FCERM Strategy Roadmap.

Shoreline Management Plans were developed in partnership by the Environment Agency, local authorities and other coastal partners working through Coastal Groups between 2006 and 2012. The Environment Agency has worked closely with coastal protection authorities through Coastal Groups on a three-year refresh of Shoreline Management Plans to ensure they remain up to date and use the best evidence.

SMP Explorer will support discussions and decisions about the future of the coast by increasing the use of plans for:

• Coastal strategies and adaptation plans
• Local plans and the designation of Coastal Change Management Areas
• Flood prevention investment decisions
• Habitat creation and restoration
• Local engagement, consultation, and political acceptance about how to live with and manage coastal change to build resilient and thriving coastal places.

The 20 plans covering England and the two cross-border plans with Wales are based on the best available evidence and cover the whole of England’s c6,000km of open coastline. 

Approximately 1.8 million homes are at risk of sea flooding and erosion in England. 

Alongside the SMP Explorer, the Environment Agency has also published an independent peer review of the state of Shoreline Management Plans to encourage their continuous improvement over future years.

Click here to access the SMP Explorer online tool

Click here to access the independent peer review