1. This is continual and ever-expanding “work in progress”, rather like wikipedia.
  2. Acronyms – to keep the web pages of reasonable length we have resorted to the use of acronyms. Although we have tried to ensure they are explained once on the relevant webpage, we may not have been successful every time – apologies if you are on this page due to such an omission.
  3. Explanations of technical terms – we have tried to keep these explanations non-technical, so they may appear simplistic to knowledgeable experts. Experts – please forgive us, you are not the target audience for these explanations. We’ve tried to make the explanations understandable (even if ambivalent), rather than precisely accurate but unintelligible.
  4. If you think we should add something to the glossary, or amend an entry, please let us know (but no nit-picking, please and see point 5)
  5. All website material is written by our volunteers in their spare time and we can’t do as much as we’d like.
  • APPG – All Party Parliamentary Group (special interest groups, chaired by MPs, at Westminster)
  • Appropriate Assessment – appraisal of effect of a project or series of projects on an SPA or SAC, required under the EU Habitats Regulations
  • BERR – Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (now see BIS)
  • B:C ratio – Benefit:Cost ratio (a method of expressing the value-for-money of a project; other things being equal where the ratio is one or more, it may be “worth doing”; e.g. 10:1 – the benefits are 10x the costs)
  • Biodiversity – Biological diversity (species, ecosystems, genes…all life on earth)
  • BIS – Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (a central government Department)
  • CBA – Cost:Benefit Analysis (now often referred to as “Benefit:Cost Analysis”, a systematic method of collating the costs and the benefits of a project and expressing them in a ratio; “benefits” may include the monetary value of avoided damages; benefits are notoriously difficult to define; costs are often difficult to assess)
  • CC (County Council) – higher tier local government in England (lower tiers are Parish, then District Council), CCs can levy (raise a tax) for flood & coastal defence via the RFDC
  • CCMA - Coastal Change Management Area – an area designated by the Local Planning Authority following guidance in PPS25, which is expected to be eroded or flooded by the sea. Special planning rules can be imposed to restrict new building (for example to temporary structures only). It is very likely property will be blighted in these zones and property values fall. To mitigate for the loss of homes & businesses in these zones, new zones inland are meant to be allocated so that flooded homes and businesses can “move” inland. But there is money to pay for them to move, or rebuild, or buy the land allocated for development. And the owners of the allocated land don’t have to sell it.
  • CDS – Coastal Defence Strategy (first tier of coastal plans, with policies for managing sections of coast that are dealt with in less detail in wider-scale higher tier SMPs)
  • CHaMP – Coastal Habitat Management Plan (plan setting out coastal management needed to conserve Natura 2000 sites; controversially these plans suggest areas of land should be flooded to compensate for Coastal Squeeze, without taking into account that this might destroy homes or businesses who will not be compensated for their loss)
  • CLA – Country Landowners’ Association
  • CLG – Communities and Local Government (a central government Department) – see also DCLG
  • Coastal Literacy – a concept created by CoastNet, “It is about equipping the public, politicians and technicians with the knowledge and understanding required to enable an active and meaningful participation in coastal decision-making. This will be good for democracy, good for decision-making, and empowering for communities”. See http://www.coastnet.org.uk/activities/all-projects/coastal-literacy
  • Coastal Squeeze – loss of marshes that are in front of “hard” coast defences – sea level is predicted to rise over the next 100yrs and a marsh that fronts a defence will eventually be covered by water and cease to be a marsh. Controversially, the Habitats Regulations require new compensatory marsh to be created if by keeping a coastal defence a marsh will be destroyed – the problem is that in flooding areas to create new marshes, homes and businesses may be destroyed without any compensation
  • CoastNet – UK based charity researching social aspects of coastal policy
  • Compensatory habitat – new areas of “natural” habitat that legally have to be created before you can build or maintain coastal defences whose existence it is thought will lead to the loss of protected habitats over the next 100 years (see coastal squeeze)
  • CPA 1949 – Coastal Protection Act 1949 (main Act of Parliament relating to coastal defence, gives permissive powers to various authorities to carry out coastal defence works)
  • CROW – Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000
  • DEFRA – Department for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (a central government department)
  • Destination Management Plan – a non-statutory plan on how to develop tourism in an area
  • DC (District Council) – middle tier local government in England (lowest tier is Parish, higher tier is County/Unitary authority), coastal DCs often have permissive responsibility for their coastline under the CPA 1949
  • DCLG – Department for Communities and Local Government (also responsible for planning policy)
  • DMP – see Destination Management Plan
  • EA – Environment Agency (quango responsible for water management – rivers, coastlines etc)
  • Ebb Delta – a delta which forms outside a harbour mouth due to the outward tide (ebb tide) carrying sediment out of the harbour (once the tidal race leaves the restricted area of the harbour it slows down and sand etc in the water stream settles forming the ebb delta)
  • EIA – Environmental Impact Assessment (environmental appraisal required by EC Directive 85/337 and 97/11)
  • Epoch – 3 periods of time used in SMPs & CDSs (0-20yrs, 20-50yrs & 50-100yrs)
  • Erosion – the wearing-away of the land by the action of the sea (waves & currents) and slumping of coastal cliffs
  • European Site – a SPA or SAC (also collectively called Natura 2000 sites)
  • FCRPF – Flood & Coastal Resilience Partnership Funding – the new name for the funding system brought in by government in May 2011, “RPF” as it is sometimes called, will be implemented from April 2012. Basically part-funding from government will be available for many coastal defence schemes in rural areas, but only if local contributions are made to bridge the funding gap. 
  • FCERM – Flood & Coastal Erosion Risk Management (river flooding, sea flooding & coast erosion)
  • Flooding – (in the coastal context) – seawater rising over (or bursting through) a coastal defence onto low lying land behind
  • Frontage – a strip of coast, generally identified and given a name in a SMP or CDS
  • FWMA 2010 – Flood and Water Management Act 2010
  • Gabion – a rock/pebble filled wire cage, used in coastal defence (particularly where there is not a heavy wave attack)
  • Geomorphology – the shape of landforms. In the coastal contest, the shape of the coast and more often the shape of shifting shingle or sand structures on or near the shore
  • Geomorphological processes – the shifting of sediment (shingle/sand) by tide and wave to create geomorphological features such as sand banks, shingle bars etc; controversially Natural England considers these processes as worthy of conservation, leading it to oppose coastal defences which would intervene in these processes – this can push up the cost of coast defence works to the point where they are no longer viable or prevent them from taking place, and property may be destroyed as a result (for which there is no compensation for the householders/owners)
  • Groyne – a barrier perpendicular to the shore, which helps arrest longshore drift. Typically build of timber, consisting of posts (piles) against which are bolted planks, stepped down the beach profile.
  • Ha – Hectare (area of 10,000 sq metres; equivalent to 2.471 acres)
  • Habitats Directive – EU Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora
  • Habitat Regulations – The Conservation (Natural Habitats) Regulations 1994 (as amended) (stem from the EU Habitats Directive)
  • HTL – Hold the Line (policy of defending the coast at its present position)
  • ICZM – Integrated Coastal Zone Management (system of planning & managing coastal areas recognising their special characteristics that deals with many different issues – e.g. recreation, development, coastal management etc; generally thought good in theory but extremely difficult to put into practise in the UK due to the many different statutory bodies involved in governance of all facets of life in coastal areas – and elsewhere)
  • Longshore Drift – process of sediment flowing along the shoreline, usually because the waves hit the shore at an angle and cause the pebbles to zig-zag every time they are pushed up and drawn down the beach, if wave direction is fairly constant then over time the pebbles move along the beach
  • Managed Realignment – allowing the sea to move inland, but managing the process (e.g. by building new flood defences further inland from the current coastline)
  • Manhood – the Manhood Pensinsula is essentially the peninsula the tip of which is Selsey Bill, West Sussex. It has been called the Selsey peninsula in the 20th Century, but the current term seems to have been adopted over the past 20 years or so and is a revival of a much earlier useage (albeit not for quite the same area as now – which is a somewhat artificial quasi-administrative construct taking the area within Chichester District from the coast to the A27 Chichester by-pass, but ignoring the parts of the geographical peninsula in the adjoining District of Arun). The etymology of “Manhood” has nothing to do with masculine rights-of-passage – in ancient times part of the area was the Hundred of Manhood (or “Manweb” or “Manhope”). The name is probably derived from the Old English maene-wudu meaning “men’s wood” or “common wood”, in other words common land [thanks to wikipedia for that]
  • MCA 2009 – Marine & Coastal Access Act 2009
  • MCZ – Marine Conservation Zone (designated under the MCA 2009)
  • Medmerry – area of low-lying coastal land between Selsey Bill and East Wittering, West Sussex
  • MMO – Marine Management Organisation (quango established by the MCA 2009, responsible for regulation & licensing of fisheries, of development seaward of the mean high water spring tide mark, marine conservation etc)
  • MPP – Manhood Peninsula Partnership
  • MPSG – Manhood Peninsula Steering Group
  • NIA – Nature Improvement Area – an environmental designation (proposed June 2011), to join up existing designated areas, proposed in the government’s Natural Environment White Paper
  • Natura 2000 site – a SAC or SPA site
  • NE – Natural England (quango responsible for nature conservation)
  • Neap Tides – smaller tides experience on average twice a month
  • NPV – Net Present Value (in a cashflow, the sum of future costs and income, reduced to PV)
  • NSSMP – North Solent Shoreline Management Plan
  • NT – National Trust
  • NVCC – National Voice of Coastal Communities (umbrella group for English & Welsh grassroots coastal groups, independent but supported financially by DEFRA, administered by CoastNet)
  • PEHCDS – Pagham to East Head Coastal Defence Strategy
  • PV – Present Value (the current value of a future cashflow – may be thought of as “how much do I need to put aside in an interest-bearing bank account now, in order to be able to pay for a series of known costs in the future”
  • Quango – Quasi-autonomous non-governmental institution (e.g. Natural England)
  • Recharge – adding sand or shingle to a beach (a method of coast defence, because beaches have a protective function), also called Beach Replenishment
  • Reference Area – a special type of “super” MCZ, where nothing may be extracted or deposited (hence the building of flood defences or recharge of shingle in a Reference Area is in principle not allowed)
  • Replenishment – adding sand or shingle to a beach (a method of coast defence, because beaches have a protective function), also called Beach Recharge
  • RFDC – Regional Flood Defence Committee (in England, the bodies through which approves EA expenditure on coastal and flood defence schemes; include representatives of County Councils/Unitary Authorities, DEFRA appointees; are administered by EA); during 2011 they will be called RFCCs (see below)
  • RFCC – Regional Flood and Coastal Committee (new name for RFDCs, from 2010/11, with powers under the FWMA 2010)
  • RFID – Radio Frequency Identification – high frequency RFID “tags” are sometimes placed in pebbles, allowing the movement of sediment to be tracked. A community project is doing this at West Beach, Selsey, W Sussex
  • RSPB – Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
  • RMA – Risk Management Authority – EA, LLFA, County Council, District Council or other authority that has a statutory role in managing flood risks from sea, river, surface water etc.
  • RPF – Resilience Partnership Funding – the post-2011 name for the system by which government funding, local Levy funding and private donations are combined to fund flood & coastal defence
  • SAC – Special Area of Conservation (site designated under the EU Habitats Directive where designated habitats or species have to be maintained or restored)
  • SAP – Science Advisory Panel (under the MCZ process – a panel which decides if the MCZ proposals provide an “ecologically coherent” package)
  • Scheme – (in the context of FCERM) specific coastal/flood works (encompasses different stages – e.g. feasibility, consultation, planning, construction)
  • SEA – Strategic Environmental Assessment (document showing the environmental opportunities and effects of a project, legally required for certain plans under the Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes Regulations 2004)
  • SMP – Shoreline Management Plan (non statutory plan which proposes policies for the coastline; within a SMP area a number of more detailed CDSs may give more specifics on how the SMP policy will be implemented on parts of the SMP coastline). Circa 2008-2011 the “second generation” of SMPs were being published.
  • SNCB – Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies, in the MCZ designation process. The two bodies are Natural England and the JNCC
  • SPA – Special Protection Area (site designated under the EU Birds Directive where steps must be taken to protect certain bird species)
  • Spring Tides – larger tides experienced on average twice a month
  • SSSI – Site of Special Scientific Interest (area of land or water protected under the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981, for its nature or geological interest)
  • Storm surge – extreme rise in sea level caused by combination of high tide, and the low atmospheric pressure (which allows the sea level to rise) which accompanies storms, plus the effect of the shape of the coastline (which can funnel the rising water making it rise even more)
  • Sustainable – generally something which is able to keep itself going without external inputs (e.g. a business that covers its costs or makes a profit; a method of carrying out coast defence that can be funded; a method of managing natural resources which allows the resource to renew itself; etc)
  • Terminal Groyne – a specially long groyne, typically at the downdrift end of a frontage which collects sediment
  • Tidal wave – nothing to do with tides: a wave or seawater surge caused by energy released into the sea, usually by earthquakes, and more properly called a Tsunami. There have only been only 2 (possibly 3) recorded tsunamis in Britain (the last being in 1755, after the great Lisbon earthquake).
  • WFD - Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) an EC Directive that requires all inland and coastal waters to achieve “Good Ecological Potential” (GEP) by 2015. It has implications for coastal management as achieving GEP may involve such things as preserving historic aquatic habitats and removing hard reinfocements & revetments.