Shoreline Management Plans

A Shoreline Management Plan (SMP) provides a large-scale assessment of the risks associated with coastal evolution and presents a policy framework to address these risks to people and the developed, historic and natural environment in a sustainable manner.

On 30th January 2024, the Environment Agency on behalf of the coastal group network have launched Shoreline Management Plan Explorer (SMP Explorer).  

To support achieving the ambitions of the Flood & Coastal Erosion Risk Management (FCERM) National Strategy, we have worked with coastal practitioners and coastal groups to refresh Shoreline Management Plans (SMPs) to ensure they remain fit for purpose in steering FCERM investment and local development planning decisions. A key aim of the SMP refresh was to bring SMPs to life through a new online portal – SMP Explorer. 

SMP Explorer makes Shoreline Management Plans easier to access, understand and use. For the first time, all SMPs can be found in one place. It is aimed at coastal managers and local authority planners but is also available to the public, including communities living on the coast. We will continue to update SMP Explorer including the addition of updated national coastal erosion risk maps later this year.

The South East Coastal Group has 4 SMP’s within the Coastal Group area. The links for each are below: