Developing long-term, sustainable management policies for the area’s beaches and cliffs, looking at practical ways to adapt to the challenges of a changing coastline while preserving the area’s natural character.
Lead Authority
East Devon District Council
Working with
Budget
TBC
Project start date
October 2023
Completion date
December 2025
Page Last Updated
12 May 2026
The BMP study area – Orcombe Point to Exmouth Marina
Overview
The 2015 Exmouth Beach Management Plan (BMP), covering the area from Orcombe Point to Exmouth Marina, has been updated, approved and adopted.
The BMP identifies long term options for managing the flood and coastal erosion risk along the frontage. It sets out how risks from both coastal flooding and erosion can be managed, and how the beach and coastal defences will be maintained into the future.
The last 10 years has seen a number of developments that will impact on short and long-term beach and coastal defence management approaches. They include the availability of updated coastal monitoring data requiring review and analysis to further understand beach dynamics, and beach level lowering and recovery processes. Climate change projections and guidance were also updated in 2018, which included changes to the assumed rates of sea level rise.
2025 Beach Management Plan
The updates impact the Leading Options previously identified for the Exmouth frontage. The 2025 appraisal considered economic, funding, environmental, and social factors.
The frontage was split into four sub-areas, referred to as Management Units:
- Management Unit 1 extension (Esplanade Area)
- Management Unit 1 (Beach Gardens Area)
- Management Unit 2 (The Maer Area)
- Management Unit 3 (Queen’s Drive Area)
The process recommended Leading Options for each of these management units over the short, medium, and long-term (subject to funding availability at the time of delivery).
Public consultation was undertaken on the options between November 2024 and February 2025. For information on how the community and other stakeholders have been involved throughout the project, visit the Exmouth BMP Engagement Hub: Community Forum – Exmouth Beach Management Plan – Commonplace
By adopting the updated BMP, Cabinet has endorsed an ‘adaptive pathway’ for long-term coastal protection. This approach means the Council and future authorities can respond flexibly as asset conditions, environmental requirements, and funding opportunities evolve.
Exmouth Beach Management Plan Update
August 2025
PDF (4MB)
BMP Update - supporting appendices A-Q
All documents are in the pdf format; none is larger than 8MB in size
Further information about this BMP Update can be found in EDDC’s December 2025 press release:
Cabinet adopts long-term strategy to manage coastal flood and erosion risk for Exmouth over the next 100 years
East Devon District Council (EDDC) has formally adopted the updated Exmouth Beach Management Plan (BMP), setting out how coastal flood and erosion...
Project stages
The 2025 BMP Update was developed in four stages over a period of 2 years, as summarised below:
| Stage | Dates | Activity |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Oct 2023 - Feb 2024 | Data collection and review – providing evidence that will inform the update to the BMP |
| 2. | Nov 2023 - May 2024 | Natural coastal process analysis – how are they impacted by climate change, and what would happen if nothing was done to manage them? |
| 3. | May 2024 - Mar 2025 | Future Management Regime Appraisal – a critical review and update of 2015 BMP options appraisal considering latest technical, environmental and economic evidence Local stakeholder engagement |
| 4. | Mar - Dec 2025 | Finalising and publishing the Plan – preparing the updated BMP document for approval and formal adoption by East Devon District Council Cabinet. |
