Their initial reaction is one of disappointment because the Coastal Defence Strategy (2000) and the subsequent Strategy Review (2001 -2006) have failed to consider what impact the 'Preferred Option' of Managed Realignment at East Head will have on navigation in Chichester Harbour, the Harbour's 28,000 regular users, their 10,000 vessels and over 700 people who depend directly on the harbour for their livelihood.

It is a clear and fundamental Government requirement that Coastal Defence Strategies assess what impact a preferred option will have on adjacent coastlines. This work has simply not been done in the case of the Pagham to East Head Strategy and Chichester Harbour. In short, the Environment Agency and Chichester District Council, whose Strategy this is, do not know what the preferred option means for the harbour community and the largest leisure harbour in the country.

Specifically, the Strategy is flawed in the following respects:

- It has failed to assess what impact widening the harbour entrance, by Managed Realignment, will have on the hydrodynamics of the harbour and consequent sedimentation in the navigable channels.

- It has failed to identify and quantify what impact that sedimentation will have on the range of vessels using the harbour.

- It has failed to establish the social, economic and amenity value of the harbour, how that might be affected by the loss of navigability, and whether there is an overriding public interest in preserving that value. The Conservancy believe there is an overriding public interest because it is a nationally important asset.

- It has failed to consider properly how, within the Managed Realignment and other options, the socio-economic value of the harbour can be maintained for as long as possible in an environmentally and economically sustainable way.

The Chichester Harbour Conservancy is not opposed to Managed Realignment as a means of managing fragile coastlines in a dynamic environment. Indeed, it has instigated and is currently managing the largest management realignment project on the South Coast of England. However, it is important that such projects consider all the impacts when implementing such an approach, as to do otherwise would be reckless.

The Chichester Harbour Conservancy may be obliged object to the proposals for East Head in the Consultation Document but will look forward to working with the Environment Agency, Chichester District Council and the owners of East Head, The National Trust, to overcome any shortcomings and to ensure that a balanced and sustainable solution for the management of East Head emerges.

A copy of Planning for the Future - the Pagham to East Head Coastal Defence Strategy can be downloaded from the Reports section of the East Head page.