The future of a quiet Sussex beach is uncertain amid safety and erosion concerns.
Climping beach, near Littlehampton, has earned a reputation as one of the county's hidden gems – and a tranquil alternative to the bustle of Brighton.
Quiet and off the beaten track, it has been described as a “little piece of oasis during the summer months”, perfect for dog walkers and those looking for the calm of the seaside rather than the crowds.
But in recent years the beach has eroded, its sea defences have been battered and bruised by storms which rock the coast every year and recent visitors likened the beach to a “bomb site”.
In 2020, villagers shared their fears over the future of their homes after Storm Ciara tore through the beach's vital flood defences.
Ferry Road, a vital link between Climping village and Littlehampton, flooded under the pressure of the high tide.
“The residents are up in arms,” Ian Buckland said at the time. “They’re really worried about the future of Climping."
In October last year, strong waves and heavy rainfall caused flooding around the village.
The beach's car park and the roads leading towards the beach flooded and were impassable due to a storm. A photograph showed the sea defences overwhelmed by high waves.
Plans to move the Climping Beach Café, car park and nearby toilets were also unveiled.
Government experts are weighing up whether they can justify throwing money at a quickly eroding area.
Climping beach falls within a Site of Specific Scientific Interest (SSSI) and benefits from a raft of protections as a result.
In May 2023, work began to remove timber groynes from the beach that had passed their usefulness and become a public safety concern.
And this year, after some of the highest tides on record rocked coastal communities in Littlehampton, bulldozers descended on the beach to push shingle to form a natural sea defence.
Over 2,000 tonnes of shingle now sit on the beach to take the brunt of the elements and an Environment Agency (EA) spokesman said it would make the beach “as resilient as possible”.
Despite this, pumping money into a decaying beach can only do so much.
Already in 2015, a Strategy Appraisal Report from the EA and Arun District Council said maintenance of the beach could be "economic".
The report read: “For the section of Climping coastal frontage that is not covered by legal agreements, the cost of major repair or renewal of defences is more than the economic benefits of doing the work.
“We recommend that Do Minimum maintenance should be undertaken as long as the benefit of ongoing flood risk management work remains greater than the costs.
“Once it becomes uneconomic to continue investment, or there is a significant breach in the defences requiring costly repairs, the Environment Agency will no longer be justified in further expenditure and will be required to cease maintenance."
It also identified the A259, up to 590 hectares of agricultural land, the SSSI and the leisure use of the beach as some of the assets which could be at risk because of the erosion.
Now nine years later, the EA has confirmed that, while they would maintain the beach for as long as they could, a time will come in the future when the money needed to maintain the beach will be more than what can be spared.
A spokesman said: “Using available funds to make Climping beach as resilient as possible, we will maintain defences for as long as we can, whilst acknowledging that, at some point in the future, the costs of maintaining the beach will exceed what we can justify spending under government rules.
“We continue to work closely with the community to look at ways to reduce the risk of flooding in the most effective way we can.”
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