Final Report to DEFRA - Jurassic Coast

advice to those communities and (ii) maintain and refresh the facilitators
network established by the project. The fund has therefore been earmarked to
pay for (i) a 6 month contract extension for one member of project team (ii)
grant to Dorset Coast Forum to maintain capacity to engage with coastal
communities, manage facilitators network etc (iii) contingencies e.g. meeting
costs.
• Community Adaptation Fund: Pathfinder produced some promising ideas but
our bid did not include resources to take these forward as we could not
second guess what they might be at the start of the project. We intend,
however, to work with communities involved in Pathfinder to allocate this fund
to practical adaptation options which emerged from the scenario planning
process (e.g. start-up funding for local coastal change fora which have been
established as a result of Pathfinder, feasibility studies into options for rolling
back infrastructure, facilitating dialogue between key stakeholders to address
issues identified during the workshops). Allocations will be made according to
the criteria set out in Appendix 5.
What if anything did the Pathfinder reveal about expectations around
Government support and funding for adaptation, and has the Pathfinder
changed these expectations at all?
Public expectations that Government should and will ‘do something’ are extremely
high, perhaps unrealistically so in places. In the places where Pathfinder has enabled
concerted engagement with communities, it has been possible to manage these
expectations to a more realistic level. However, care has to be taken not just to give
the message to communities that ‘there is not enough money to pay for defences’,
and to ensure that the opportunities arising from change and the alternatives on offer
are explored. Furthermore, Government and its agencies can not completely subcontract
the process of engagement and delivery of the message about the need to
adapt to local authorities. This needs to be done in partnership, with both the
message and the means being co-ordinated between local authorities, central
government and its agencies. A culture of engagement within Government and its
agencies needs to be fostered and adequately resourced.
Were there lessons about the planning framework, and how planning policy
can support adaptation?
The engagement process with communities highlighted the critical importance of the
national and local planning policy framework in promoting (not just enabling)
sustainable adaptation to coastal change. We commissioned LUC to look into the
role of the planning system in supporting adaptation and we endorse their report,
which is being submitted alongside this evaluation report.
Has the scheme come up with outcomes or promising looking ideas that
warrant continuation? Which case studies do you think have the greatest
replicability?
The project has undoubtedly produced many positive outcomes which warrant
continuation and extension, both in terms of breadth and depth:
Breadth - Dorset’s Pathfinder bid identified a range of coastal communities facing
change and the six chosen as case studies were identified for the range of issues
they presented rather than because they were unique or more urgent than other
locations. As such, the approach taken – using scenarios of future change to inform
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