Legislation and Designation
Nearly every metre of Dorset's coast is protected by laws and regulations. What effect does all this have on the people who live here and who decides what happens on our coast?
The county's shoreline boasts a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with a raft of other designations like Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
The Marine and Coastal Access Bill and the Flood and Water Management Bill are also making their way through Parliament.
Across the country, coastal groups have been commissioned by Defra to put together Shoreline Management Plans (SMPs). These will decide which parts of the coast should be defended and which should be left to nature.
South Devon and Dorset Coastal Advisory Group is compiling the SMP for the Jurassic Coast and has just finished its first public consultation.
"We have run 47 different public events... although we cannot guarantee to speak to every landowner."
Chairman Graeme Smith said: "We spent the last 18 months or so trying to engage with as many stakeholders as possible and anyone with an interest in the coast.
"We have run, I think, 47 different public events along the Dorset and South Devon Coast, although we cannot guarantee to speak to every individual landowner."
The Coastal Advisory Group is made up of 11 local authorities, Natural England, National Rail, the Environment Agency, Defra and Devon and Dorset’s county councils but there are hundreds more organisations and individuals who are able to have a say.
Rob Vearncombe's farm is on the heritage coast. Photo: Roz Tappenden
Stakeholders include English Heritage, the National Trust, Dorset AONB, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Dorset Wildlife Trust, not to mention Dorset Coast Forum, which itself has more than 130 member organisations.
On top of that list are hundreds more individuals who live, work or own property on this stretch of coastline. The SMP's job is to take all these views into account, along with any relevant designations and legislation, to come up with a plan for the next 100 years.
Oliver Letwin, MP for West Dorset, said: "There are clearly quite a number of different bodies involved and there may well be some scope for rationalising some of that, but I don’t think there is a major practical problem arising from it.
"Even with the bureaucracy, it is possible to get the right results."
"The works on the west of Lyme Regis took a long time but they got done and I think that shows, even with the bureaucracy, it is possible to get the right results.
"It isn't just the Shoreline Management Plans – wherever you look at environmental protection in rural England you do see rather a lot of agencies involved and we do need to think about whether there is scope for rationalisation."
So what do the people on the ground think of the bureaucracy?
Rob Vearncombe's farm forms part of the Dorset AONB, South Dorset Coast SSSI, the UNESCO World Heritage Site and South West Coast Footpath.
He said: "It always helps if they can come as one voice but you have got to understand that it would be difficult to achieve that. You can only whittle it down so far."
