CURRENT defences designed to protect Dawlish Warren are ‘unsustainable’, environment experts have warned.

Efforts put in place five years ago in a bid to shore up the spit against ongoing coastal erosion and rising sea levels have not performed as well as expected.

The Dawlish Warren Beach Management plan cost £12 million and was completed in 2017, a joint project between the Environment Agency and Teignbridge Council.

But a consultation with communities along the Exe estuary has said that the spit will continue to change with ongoing beach lowering and erosion.

The geotube, groyne and relic gabion defences installed as part of the 2017 scheme are ‘unsustainable’, it has been said.

The previous scheme also carried out dredging the recharge the beach at Dawlish Warren to improve the quality of the beach and allow the sand dunes to recover.

A report to the Exe Estuary Stakeholder Forum said these defences ‘work against natural processes and need to be removed by 2050’ and the ‘risk to the wider estuary will increase due to effects of climate change and the spit gradually losing its wave barrier function’.

The 2017 scheme was aimed at reducing the risks of flooding and rising sea levels along the estuary and to protect the railway line and communities of 2,900 homes, including Starcross by bolstering the spit which was said to have been at risk of being breached.

Works were needed at Dawlish Warren to allow the sand spit to continue to act as a barrier to storm waves

However, the Exe Estuary Stakeholder Forum has been told that changes on the site were ‘greater than predicted’ following the 2017 scheme.

The forum event was organised to share the latest proposals for future management and to receive feedback from the wider Exe estuary community before identifying a ‘preferred’ approach.

During the forum, Martin Davies, coastal advisor representing the Environment Agency, explained that any recommendations were an attempt to find a ‘balance and common ground’ between flood and coastal erosion risk and environmental management.

The purpose of the forum is to gain feedback and provide information.

Among the issues highlighted were the long-term sustainable management of the Dawlish Warren spit; that the spit will continue to change with ongoing beach lowering and erosion and that the existing defences of the geotube, groyne and gabions are ‘unsustainable’.

Experts also said the risk to the wider estuary will increase due to effects of climate change and the spit will gradually lose its wave barrier function.

Authorities and stakeholders need to be aware and plan for this eventuality, the forum was told.

Following a further review and more detailed analysis of all the responses received, a summary report will be produced and circulated for the next Forum event in February.