Beach works will protect homes from flooding

More than 120,000 tonnes of shingle is being moved on Shepway local beaches to keep the area protected from flooding.

The beaches provide vital protection to the local area from flooding, for what is known as a one-in-200-year storm – a storm so bad it only occurs on average once every 200 years.

A combination of wind and waves means the shingle shifts in a process called longshore drift. This leaves some areas potentially vulnerable to flooding. Council officers monitor the beaches and work takes place twice each year to replenish shingle where it has been lost.

Cllr Dick Pascoe, Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s Cabinet Member for Property and Environmental Health, said:

“Residents may well have noticed the work taking place on the beach, or seen some of the trucks that are transporting the shingle.
In some areas, the beach is as much as 1.5m lower than usual so it really is important that we redistribute the material in order to keep homes and businesses protected.
The beaches help absorb the energy of waves and if we did not monitor levels there is a risk the sea would weaken or destroy sea walls.”
Cllr Dick Pascoe

More than 3,350 truckloads will be transported between now and 21 May, when the work is scheduled to finish in time for the May half term.

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