Further consultation on Exmouth tidal defences

East Devon District Council and the Environment Agency are working together to reduce the risk of flooding from extreme sea levels in the Camperdown area of Exmouth.

The work is being carried out as part of the Exmouth Tidal Defence Study and the Council and Environment Agency are reviewing the options to upgrade the flood defences. The project aims to protect the estuary frontage, parts of the seafront and around 1,000 properties in the town.

The project team is currently considering various options along the estuaryside from Withycombe Brook in the North, around to Camperdown Creek in the South along with proposals to reduce wave overtopping from the Maer slipway along the Esplanade to Alexandra Terrace.

Following an update to Exmouth District and Town councillors last month (December), the project team recently met with residents from Camperdown Terrace to discuss how the options may affect their properties and Camperdown Creek.

Proposals in that area range from building walls along the estuaryside to protect Exmouth for the next 100 years, through to options such as flood gates and road raising further inland which would protect the town for the next 30 years.

Plans were presented for each option to help residents understand what each option entails. Officers from East Devon, the Environment Agency and WSP │ Parsons Brinckerhoff were on hand to answer questions. WSP │ Parsons Brinckerhoff are the engineering consultants that will appraise options to improve the sea and estuary defences.

Cllr Iain Chubb, East Devon’s portfolio holder for the environment said: “We received some really good feedback on the options, with a preference for inland road raising rather than a large perimeter wall and the residents themselves suggesting some further options such as impounding the creek which the project team will consider further.”

Further public consultation is planned at Exmouth Town Hall on Wednesday February 3, when all residents are invited to come and meet the team, view the various options and provide comments on them.

Following the consultation, a business case will be prepared to submit to the Environment Agency in the Spring.

• This project is separate from the Beach Management Plan work that the Council carried out last year looking at the main town beach from Orcombe Point to Morton Crescent. This work concluded that some beach recycling works would be required in the 2020s.