The coastline of the Severn Estuary is divided up into 66 short sections called ‘Policy Units’. For each section, one of the following policy options is recommended:
A policy option is provided to deliver a sustainable management approach over three planning timeframes:
- Short-term: 2005 – 2025
- Medium-term: 2026 – 2055
- Long-term: 2056 – 2105
Policy options may change for different epochs for the same stretch of coast. For example, the policy option for a particular policy unit could be ‘hold the existing line’ for the first epoch (0 – 20 years), changing to ‘managed realignment’ for the next epoch (20 – 50 years).
Executive summary of the Severn SMP2 – Executive Summary / Cymraeg
It should be noted that the policies in the SMP do NOT contain specific details for schemes – either what they will be made of or the standard of protection. These will come from other sources including Environment Agency/Natural Resource Wales and Local Authority flood risk management plans.