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News
News From National TrustFormby Point A winter of change At a time when we're all becoming acclimatised to a changing climate, it is perhaps interesting to see how the natural impacts on our coastline are shaping plans for changes to visitor access, infrastructure and some of our coastal habitats. The idea that natural coastal change is vital to the maintenance of natural beauty, is nowhere more evident than on a sand dune coastline. One hot busy day the dunes may look a sorry state with not a square metre of bare sand left untrampled. What a relief then when the weather changes, the wind blows, the sand shifts, and natural ripple marks restore a sense of pristine landscape in the dunes. The same natural capacity for restoring a sense of ordered beauty, can also on occasions wreak havoc with storm surges ripping 12 metres off the front of the dunes and sand blowing long distances in land. Trees may be thrown down, asparagus crops smothered in drifting sand and walkers find it more difficult to pick their way along the coast. Working with nature is hardly optional. We constantly adapt to the changed conditions and where the tide is driving back the land we obligingly retreat. Managed retreat is about predicting how the landscape is going to develop and trying to give it space to do so. The National Trust recognises the need to plan retreat with redesign of car parks, access routes and infrastructure on its coastal property at Formby. The Trust is working with Sefton Council, the Mersey Waterfront team and other partners to prepare a master plan to guide the changes to access and visitor facilities, which are urgently needed. Options will be developed so that interested parties can help to secure sustainable access to this prime coastal attraction in the decades ahead It's not all a talking shop however. The National Trust is already taking the lead in a project to provide a new line for the Sefton Coastal Path across Formby Point. The path has been lost over much of its original line due to sand blow and the gradual movement of the dunes inland. The new route will be set back further from the sea and will pass through the coastal pine woods emerging every so often into forest glades and open dunes with magnificent views across
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