Unit 1 and 2

These are two of the four foreshore units of the south facing foreshore at Dungeness – made up of the MoD Lydd ranges frontage and RSPB and EDF Energy landownerships.

Unit 1 lies from Jury’s Gap Lookout though to The Wicks. A meeting and site visit to discuss the Denge Beach (Lydd Ranges) Beach Management Plan (BMP) with EA and the Area Ops Team.

The frontage at Jury’s Gap is showing increasing coastal squeeze as the coast retreats to meet the Green Wall structure that runs along the coast here within the MoD Lydd Ranges training ground.

Until a sustainable coastal flood management scheme is initiated here at Jury’s Gap through the FoCES strategy this unit will remain in its present condition of Unfavourable.

Unit 2 lies on the frontage – a dynamic frontage of the Lydd Ranges from The Wicks to the Galloways Lookout location (the Galloways Lookout was removed in 2015 due to persistent erosion and undermining from coastal action). This unit is displaying roll back and fan formation, particularly in the area of Southbrooks.

The Denge BMP identifies low and vulnerable spots on the Lydd Ranges frontage and each winter (Christmas and New Year shut down on the firing Ranges) re-profiling works are carried out by the EA to push shingle from the foreshore (never the back, landward face of the storm crest) to raise the height at these specific spots. The BMP was set up in 2007 to reduce the adverse effects on the Dungeness SAC Annex I habitats due to reprofiling or pushing up with bulldozers – this originally, was carried out along the full frontage. That was from Jury’s Gap in the west through to the Denge Marsh Road/Gully. Over the period of the first BMP 2007-2016 this reprofiling activity was greatly reduced. (see unit 3)

Recently though in the last two years the reprofiling has been seen to increase again in Units 1 and 2 due to coastal squeeze issues. This needs to be carefully monitored and discussed with EA at each annual review of the Denge BMP.