Calls on Environment Agency to urgently resolve unfinished flood defences at Soldiers' Point
by Shoreham Sailing Club 28 Oct 2025 06:21 GMT
Flood defences at Soldiers' Point - October 2025 © Shoreham SC
Shoreham Sailing Club, a registered charity and long-standing community organisation, is calling on the Environment Agency (EA) to urgently resolve the flood defence issues at Soldiers' Point - a site now at serious risk of flooding despite originally being included in the £45 million Shoreham Adur Tidal Walls Scheme.
The EA launched the project in 2019 to protect homes, businesses, and infrastructure along the River Adur from tidal flooding. However, five years on, Shoreham Sailing Club and local residents remain unprotected due to unfinished works.
Flood risk ignored
Independent consultants JBA Consulting warned the EA in 2019 that failing to install the proposed piling works would leave Shoreham Sailing Club "at risk of flooding where no flooding was predicted in previous modelled scenarios."
The report, based on outdated 2009 data, also cautioned that forthcoming sea-level-rise projections would likely increase that risk. It further highlighted that the raised kerb at the adjacent car park - protecting local residents and the highway - offered only "minimal freeboard," meaning even a small breach could cause flooding.
Unmodelled construction changes water dynamics
Through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, the club discovered that the EA had no wave, current or sediment modelling for the large concrete slipway it constructed at Shoreham Sailing Club - the design of which has significantly altered local water movement and impacted on the unprotected area at Soldiers' Point.
"The slipway has completely changed the flow," said William Warren, Commodore at Shoreham Sailing Club. "There are new eddies and waves where the water used to be calm. The shoreline is unrecognisable - groynes have been entirely buried or left as exposed skeletons."
The change in currents has even uncovered an ancient anchor believed to have last seen the light of day in the Napoleonic era, while safety concerns have led Shoreham Port to restrict recreational water sports around the point.
Temporary fixes, broken promises
The EA has made several temporary interventions since 2020 - including reinstating shingle and building and subsequently reinstating rock revetments - but each has failed to hold. Most recently, work undertaken in March 2025 has already shown signs of failure.
Despite repeated promises, including a 2021 assurance to Adur and Worthing Council that "permanent solutions" were being developed, no permanent fix has been delivered.
Eight weeks ago, representatives from Shoreham Sailing Club met with local MP Tom Rutland, the Environment Agency, Shoreham Port and Adur District Council to discuss the worsening situation and explain the impact of the concrete slipway on their failure to complete the flood defence. Since that meeting, the club has received only one email from the EA, stating that they "will be in touch."
Call for immediate action
"This is no longer just frustrating for us - it's about security, safety and trust," the club said in a statement. "The Environment Agency has left a gap in the flood defences they promised to complete. Every day that passes puts our land, our members, and nearby homes at greater risk. We are calling on the EA to take immediate, permanent action to protect Shoreham Sailing Club before it's too late."