Today was the official completion and opening of the Exmouth Sea Defences. Representatives from The Environment Agency, Contractors Kier, Devon County Council, East Devon District Council and Exmouth Town Council were invited to a reception at the Imperial Hotel and the cutting of the ribbon. Community groups who have helped in a number of ways, were also invited, including Exmouth in Bloom who were tasked with designing and planting the long bed behind the flood gates at Alexandra Terrace. In planning this we had to bear in mind the unusually harsh and exposed conditions on the seafront both in Summer and Winter. The planting, by designer Graham Bell was installed by Exmouth in Bloom volunteers in Autumn 2021, so has already survived a Winter of storms and a blazing hot Summer.
© Tim Pestridge, Philip Rees, Chair of the South West Regional Flood and Coastal Committee, and Councillor Paul Arnott, East Devon District Council’s leader, cut the ribbon.
The Environment Agency and East Devon District Council have spent £12 million of Government funding, building new and improving existing defences at The Royal Avenue, Camperdown Creek and The Esplanade in Exmouth.
The flood risk to residents and 400 businesses in the area has been reduced from a 4% chance of flooding every year to a 0.5% chance. This accounts for climate change and rising sea levels, with the option of improving the defences in the future.
Further improvements should not be needed before 2045 based on current predictions.
