CASE STUDY OF SANDBANKS

• Coastal landscape


  1km Peninsula
• Peninsula


  • Hook end has become an area of extremely high land value - the 4th most expensive in the world per square metre
  • Provides shelter and protection from the waves for Poole Harbour and it's yacht club
  • At the end is the entrance to Poole harbour for ferries and ships
  • At it's lowest point is just 2m above sea level, so threatened by breaching in the near future if there was no management
• Sandbanks contain a large number of high value properties, including the Sandbanks Hotel, which receives significant spending in the local economy
• The beach has a blue flag award and it's gentle, wide slope makes it a major tourist attraction
• An established £18m of damage would occur of the next 20 years
• Management strategy


  1. Rock Groynes constructed to minimise the movement of sediment along the beach and build up a deep, wide, sandy beach

  2. Beach Nourishment - Sand dredged from offshore and dumped onto the beach to absorb energy and protect against erosion

  3. Dredging from the harbour also helps keep it free
• Movement strategy


  Aim was the "hold the line" and stop any further erosion
• The scheme has been so successful than it has had the unintentional impact of actually increasing the width of the beach