A NUMBER of privately owned beach huts at Studland considered at severe risk of suffering storm damage will be moved back from the sea.

The huts, at Middle Beach, will be moved by the National Trust, as part of a phased relocation programme starting this autumn.

Hut owners have been notified and new sites, subject to planning permission and Natural England approval, have been identified.

Click here to see all the plans 

Click here to read the environmental statement 

Studland operations manager Emma Wright explained: "We have made this decision because the huts in their current location would be at severe risk of storm damage this coming winter.

"We want to maintain a vibrant beach hut presence at Studland.

"The move is in line with our Shifting Shores policy for adapting to coastal change and the coastal management plan for Studland Bay, overseen by the Environment Agency.

"Our challenge as a conservation and access charity is to ensure a long term future for Studland and its beach scene by adapting to coastal change."

Some 42 beach huts will be moved, and each hut is being looked at on a case-by-case basis to determine the most suitable site further inland, as close to its original location as possible.

Bournemouth Echo:

The existing sites in zone one 

Bournemouth Echo:

The new sites for the beach huts in zone one 

Earlier this year more than 1,800 people backed two petitions urging the National Trust to abandon its plans to close the current Middle Beach cafe at Studland.

The National Trust is set to close the toilet block at Middle Beach and remove the sea defences protecting it. This work is part of a policy of non-intervention the trust is implementing for the coastal site, where, it says, the sea defences are reaching the end of their natural life.

Bournemouth Echo:

The existing sites for the beach huts in zone two

Bournemouth Echo:

The new sites for the beach huts in zone two 

The trust has confirmed the cafe at Middle Beach will be replaced by a new independently run facility operating under a lease.

At the same time as relocating the beach huts, the National Trust will be starting the process of removing the sea defences at Middle Beach.

However, the gabions play no part in protecting the beach huts in their current locations and the two projects are not therefore connected, says a National Trust spokesman.

Emma Wright said: "The sandy beaches of Studland Bay owe their existence to natural processes which mean they are constantly changing, and it is this dynamic environment which gives the Studland peninsula its special character."