Swanage Landslips - Final Update.

By way of a final update, for now, on the Swanage cliff slips.

HM Coastguard  have formally requested that the relevant local authorities (Purbeck District Council and Dorset County Council) take full responsibility for the situation following their office closures over the Christmas break. It will be up to these bodies to assess the risk to public safety and decide whether the beach and promenade can be reopened; this will be undertaken in liaison with local landowners.

Naturally HM Coastguard (Swanage) will continue to respond to any emergency incidents on the beach and cliffs.

Our advice remains that the cliff slips, whilst appearing benign, remain active. The risks as we see them are further slipping/cliff falls, persons being cut off by the tide when walking to Shep’s Hollow, and persons getting stuck in the mud/quicksands at the north end of the beach.

Notably on New Year’s Eve Dorset Fire and Rescue (Swanage) were called out to a dog that was reported stuck in the slip under The Pines Hotel, an incident which would normally be dealt with by the Coastguard. This area was cordoned off for public safety.

On arrival I am told that the dog had managed to free itself.

Mudslip along North Beach

In total the volunteer team have put in over 250+ hours dealing with the slips; the majority over the Christmas holiday period. Sadly we have taken a lot of flack for the beach closure, even though we were not the lead agency – just the most visible!

Thank you to those people who have provided their support on Facebook and the Blog.

Oh, and if you fancy doing your bit for Swanage why not consider joining the team?