Project update - June/July 2026

Future Coast Bude project delivery

Programme partners continue to work together on the next phase of Future Coast Bude. Discussions are ongoing and a further update will be shared once these have concluded.

	Coastal Vision workshops Across two dates in June, around 45 individuals, representing groups or organisations involved on the coast, were invited to workshops at the Parkhouse Centre. The aim of these events was to collect community views and ideas to inform a Coastal Vision. This document will build on lots of the information the project has collected already and will set out the community's aspirational plan for the future of the coastline in Bude; how they want it to look and feel as it adapts to changes over the next 30 years. Following an introductory presentation, participants used large maps, with models produced by the youth board, to re-imagine the future of what either Summerleaze or Crooklets could look like. They were then tasked with taking one asset and making a plan for the future - considering what the options could be, what the risks and benefits would be for each option, and when each option might be implemented. Groups then picked a preferred option. The workshops ended with an anonymous voting session, which captured views on what was important to people in the future and how they wanted the coast to look and feel. The workshops got very positive feedback from those who attended. A special thank you to members of the youth board who put their skills into practise and helped to facilitate the events. An additional workshop was run with Year 12 A Level Geography students at Budehaven school.
Future Coast Bude Coastal Vision Bude-Stratton Town Council and the Youth Board have worked with the project to identify the key themes coming out of the visioning work. These are available to view here: Summary of findings v2 (A3) These findings have also been on display at the Parkhouse Centre. The team will be working over the summer to produce the full Coastal Vision report.
	Future-proofing access to the coast Throughout the project, Future Coast Bude has worked very closely with both Active8 and AdSurf - charities working locally to improve access for all. We have also been working with Bude Area Tourist Board. A key focus of the project has been to ensure that those with mobility challenges, can still access the beach in the future, as the coastline changes. As a result of this work, the project has funded two new beach wheelchairs. Crooklets cafe have kindly offered to host the beach wheelchairs. Bookings for both will remain through Ad Surf. More information can be found here: Accessible and Inclusive Bude. The project has also funded a number of ramps that can be used with beach huts to allow them to be accessible to those with mobility challenges. The ramps will be available for use with any ‘accessible’ hut free of charge. There will be two ramps at Summerleaze and two at Crooklets. All the information about the light-weight, foldable ramps will be available on the visitBude website and at the beach office.
Flood and Coast conference Future Coast Bude attended the Flood and Coast Conference in Liverpool in June - the biggest conference in the country devoted to flooding and coastal erosion. The team were involved in running a workshop with other projects who are delivering coastal adaptation across the country. The workshop allowed attendees to consider how they would plan for coastal adaptation, using a scenario based approach.

Categories: Monthly updates