A SUNNY weekend in April 2016 would see the face of the Dorset coast literally change when tonnes of rock and rubble plunged 100ft onto Bournemouth promenade.
Luckily nobody was injured in the 5am landslip on April 24, just yards from the Jon Egging Memorial.
The café toilet block at the base of the cliff was obliterated and one of the cars of the East Cliff lift was knocked off its rails.
Hours before the massive slip, cracks had been spotted by the Bournemouth Borough Council sea front team and the area was cordoned off.
But what causes the slips, will we see more, and what can prevent them?
PREVIOUS CLIFF SLIPS IN DORSET
Beach huts were damaged in Swanage in February this year after a landslip.
The path in front of the huts under Highcliffe Road was closed after a garden gave way, slipping down the face of the cliff.
The coastguard team was not deployed, but the organisation warned people to be cautious as there was potential for more landslides.
In January 2018, a block of huts at Canford Cliffs were sealed off over concerns of a possible landslide.
Work to build new beach huts and seafront infrastructure at the site was postponed because of the situation.
Over the past 40 years there have been three significant cliff slips at Canford Cliffs Chine.
The first two happened in the 1970s and one of these left a block of beach huts demolished - a block which was only reinstated in 2014. The third significant landslide took place in 1993.
And in January 2020, a landslip took out an ice cream kiosk on Boscombe promenade.
The land slipped on the night of January 14, damaging the ice cream kiosk between Gordon’s Zigzag and Fisherman’s Walk at Southbourne.
The slip came after Storm Brendan hit Dorset, flooding many parts of the county.
Landslip takes out ice cream hut on Boscombe promenade
WHAT CAUSES THE SLIPS?
A number of factors could cause a landslip, including consistent rainfall, adverse weather, and the consolidation of the cliff face.
Dr Luciana Esteves, associate professor in physical geography at Bournemouth University, said: “If it is a rocky material that is consolidated there is much less chance of slipping than an unconsolidated material.
“Depending on the groups that form that cliff, there will be a certain angle that makes it stable.
“If it is changed the risk is greater. If you have waves reaching the cliff face the angle might be changing and then there is a risk of collapse.”
Dr Esteves also said when rainfall gets into the gaps on the cliff face it adds weight and volume of water in the cliff, increasing the risk of a slip.
“Sometimes you have periods of dry weather and the particles that form the cliff are very dry, then you have heavy rainfall, you have a rapid increase in the water in the cliff face so the volume of water in there can all of a sudden create instability.”
Garden gives way in latest landslide on Swanage coastline
WILL WE SEE MORE SLIPS?
As the climate changes, cliff slips could become more common, and the Dorset coast could become increasingly vulnerable.
Dr Esteves explains how climate change could have a detrimental effect on the coastline.
“If climate change creates more frequent periods of dryness, extended periods of dryness, circulated with heavy rainfall, then you have more chance, or more occasions where the cliff will become unstable,” she said.
“That combination, with rising sea levels, more water at the base of the cliffs, it means that change in the slope of the cliff will happen more rapidly, that creates more chance for land slips.”
Active landslide on Swanage Beach near Sheps Hollow
WHAT CAN BE DONE TO PREVENT LANDSLIDES?
There may be a sense of inevitability around landslides, however Dr Esteves said there are changes that can be made to slow the process down.
“How can we mitigate the impact of climate change is something much more complicated,” she said.
Dr Esteves said people need to live more sustainably and find a balance between living sustainably and slowing climate change.
She also said reducing the amount of greenhouse gasses we produce is important to protect the cliffs.
The academic then spoke about keeping people and property safe from landslides.
“We have to start talking more about, with reason rather than emotions, retreating from cliff tops to reduce people in danger.
“There is a need to start thinking about reducing the risk of property and people by cautiously making decisions to remove people that are at imminent risk.
“Imagine you are asleep in your house and you have people suddenly knocking at the door saying you need to leave and leave everything.
“We are in the 21st century, we have knowledge about landslides. We know they are going to happen so why aren’t we being more proactive and reducing the risk that people are facing?
“There is a need to relocate people from high-risk areas.”
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