An Exmouth councillor has been chosen to lead a 'steering group' assembled to protect the town's beach from coastal erosion.

Overall, sand volumes on the beach have remained the same, but there have been dramatic changes in several places. For example, the loss of a significant amount of sand in some areas of the beach exposed old structures such as timber foundations of beach huts, old jetties, former groynes, and metal pipes.

The new Beach Management Plan steering group is made up of local beach users, organisations and district and county councillors.

Cllr Paul Millar (Lab, Exmouth Halsdon), who was elected chair of the group at its first meeting, said: "I am delighted to be chairing the work of this vital steering group which unites the expertise of our council's engineers, the Environment Agency and relevant local stakeholders such as the RNLI, to urgently address issues caused by storms, floods and cliff erosion.

"This is major and urgent project in which the end goal is to better protect and enhance the jewel in Exmouth's crown. Around the lifeboat station, we have pipes sticking out the ground and putting the safety of our residents and visitors at risk.

"Our work starts immediately with our priority to work with the RNLI to repair the sea walls and extend the ramp, so it reaches the sea. Our biggest challenge will be securing external funding for managing the physical nature of the beach."

Government funding for flood and coastal protection schemes is reportedly only available to protect homes and properties at risk. This means that most of the scheme is likely to need funding from alternative sources.

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