8:00am Tuesday 2nd February 2010
By Julian Robinson
THEY face the prospect of their land being lost to the Solent.
Land owners in the New Forest were given their first chance to comment on plans that will end up shaping the future of Hampshire.
A major blue print, suggesting how coastal erosion should be tackled over the next 100 years, is going on display over the coming week at a series of public consultations.
Within the pages of the North Solent Shoreline Management Plan (SMP), experts have already recommended that some stretches of the county's coast should effectively be sacrificed to Mother Nature.
But the majority of the more than 51,000 homes and businesses at risk of flooding in South Hampshire will continue to be protected.
Under the plans, defences would be maintained between Lymington Yacht Haven and Saltgrass Lane, the Waterside area between Redbridge and Calshot Spit and at Hurst Spit.
However the stretch between Sowley and Salternshill which takes in Lepe Beach and the banks of the Beaulieu River would not be included in the 'hold the line' category.
The plan recommends that these stretches should be allowed to change and evolve naturally.
Opinions on the blue print were mixed when members of the public were invited to an exhibition at Lymington Town Hall yesterday.
Some were concerned they were on coastline that experts advise should be afforded 'no active intervention' over the next century.
The SMP covers 386km of coastline, from Hurst Spit in the west to Selsey Bill in the east, and breaks down the coastline into different sections.
The report took three years to produce and was drawn up by the Environment Agency, along with every council in South Hampshire.
The consultation runs for three months and the deadline for comments is April 23. See northsolentsmp. co.uk for more.
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