THE DEVELOPMENT OF A FRAMEWORK FOR ESTUARY SHORELINE MANAGEMENT PLANS

This paper describes an approach to estuary shoreline management planning (eSMP) based upon the shoreline management planning (SMP) approach, which has been used extensively around the UK coast. The proposed method comprises two parallel strands, one following a functional approach and the other focussing on resources. Both approaches involve using a cause-consequence model to identify the temporal and spatial scale of any changes in the estuary system that may result. The estuary SMP process may be summarised as follows: i) Identify functional requirements to develop “design” concept. Evaluate the size, shape and location of the changes that are likely to result. Assess the implications for estuary resources.