Responses received during the initial consultation on the strategy have helped shape the draft strategy and the Agency is now seeking further comments from residents on the proposed options before they are finalised.

East Head, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) is an important feature at the entrance to Chichester Harbour. It is used for recreation by many thousands of walkers and tourists. The hinge, the point of the dune system that connects it to the land is currently under threat, which is of great concern to local people and Chichester Harbour Conservancy.

If the hinge is breached it may have a significant impact on the flow of water through the harbour entrance, affecting the deep water channels and ultimately the use of the harbour for navigation and marine related businesses. The rock berm alongside the inside of the hinge was put in place by the Conservancy in 2000, a recharge of this area was carried out in 2005, and permission for a further recharge has been granted pending the outcome of the Pagham to East Head Coastal Defence Strategy Plan.

In a statement, Chichester Harbour Conservancy said it has resolved to support the current draft Coastal Defence Strategy (CDS) for the East Head frontage, a strategy that recommends a process of ‘adaptive management’ of this important feature for the 100 year life of the CDS.

The aim of Adaptive Management will be to maintain the socio-economic, amenity, environmental and navigation value of East Head but it will not try to lock the feature into its current size, shape and orientation. It will be based on regular monitoring of the feature and responding to changes with a suite of measures.

There will be an initial scheme to safeguard East Head in the early years of the strategy and this will involve a significant recycling of beach material into the vulnerable hinge and neck at the southern end of the feature. It will also see the construction of a buried sill behind the recharged area to ensure that, if there is a catastrophic breakthrough into Snowhill Creek, a tidal channel does not develop.

It also promotes the controlled management of the groynes and breastworks to allow improved sediment flow into East Head and the development of natural beaches. These and other measures will be available in the medium and long term to manage and respond to the evolution of East Head in the face of predicted sea level rise and increased storminess.

The Conservancy said it was in no doubt that in order to gain planning permission and other consents, it was essential that the management of East Head formed part of the Coastal Defence Strategy and that Adaptive Management, as described in the Strategy Document, represented the most sustainable and achievable way forward. It noted that central government funding was most unlikely to be available for any works at East Head and any measures to safeguard it for future generations would have to be funded from other sources.