Future Coast Bude | Let's Talk Cornwall

Category Monthly updates Show all

Project update - March 2026

Coastal Vision Taking into account feedback from the survey and working with the Youth Board, the project team have been planning for Community Conversation events. The first of these will be taking place on Thursday 23 April from 4-7pm in the Ivor Potter Hall at the Parkhouse Centre. This first session will: Give you a chance to come and explore the history of the coast in Bude, using the Maritime Archaeological Trust’s story map. Watch the Premiere of the films produced by the 2 Minute Foundation. Find out more about the Future Coast Bude project and what we have been working on. Learn about how we want to work with you to plan for the future. Look out for more information about the events, coming soon.
	2 Minute Foundation Films At the Community Conversation event on 23 April, you will be able to watch films about: How the same storms are causing bigger problems How the coast naturally responds Defences, trade offs and coastal squeeze Adaptation planning and the future Look out for a trailer for the films coming out very soon.

The Youth Board The Youth Board have now completed their training and are fully involved in the project. They are: Helping us deliver the Community Conversation events. Developing ideas for getting younger people involved in the conversation about the future of the coast in Bude. You can read more about the Youth Board here: Future Coast Bude \| Let's Talk Cornwall
	Sand recycling Work to move some of the wind-blown sand on Summerleaze car park onto the front of the dune started on Monday 30 March. This is a Cornwall Council Car Parking Services project, which Future Coast Bude have helped to facilitate. The work is being done to ensure the sand remains within the dune, whilst buying time to come up with a plan for the future as part of the Coastal Vision. The project is also working closely with the RNLI and Dunes Group to try and make adjustments to the southern access route. Work will be undertaken by the Dunes Group and other volunteers from April, to try and stabilise parts of the dune to reduce the amount of sand that is blown into the car park. You can read more about sand recycling here: Future Coast Bude \| Let's Talk Cornwall

Project update - February 2026

Shaping Bude’s Coast Together – survey responses

A huge thank you to everybody who completed the survey. This was designed so the project team could better understand what is most important to the community about the coast in Bude, and will be used to shape our future engagement.

Over 250 responses were received – a response rate of 2.8%.

The survey shows a consistent and urgent need for far better communication, education, and public understanding around coastal change and adaptation.

Most respondents felt ill‑informed, uncertain, or unaware of what is happening, despite strong concern about erosion, flooding, and future risks.

A full survey report will be shared in March.

Based on the findings of the survey, it is clear to the project team that we need to be able to work with the community to provide better information about coastal change and adaptation. We have been working on a number of key tools which will help us to have this conversation (see below for updates on the story map and films).

Shaping Bude’s Coast Together – competition winners

Congratulations to the prize winners, who were drawn at random, by the Mayor of Bude, Mike Dawes.

Winners are:

First prize: Megan Ross

Second prize: Pippa John

Third prize: Jill Haines

All prize winners received vouchers for local Bude businesses (Electric Bakery, The Refill Shop and Wild Wood). Megan and Pippa were presented with their vouchers by the Mayor of Bude.

2 Minute Foundation films

Four short films on the following topics are being filmed and will be ready to share in March:

Why the same storms are causing bigger problems?
Is erosion always bad – or is it just misunderstood?
Do sea wall actually make the problem worse?
How we plan for a coastline that won’t stay still.

We can't wait to share these with you very soon!

Maritime Archaeological Trust Story Map

The Maritime Archaeological Trust have been progressing well with their work to bring together all the available evidence about what the coastline in Bude looked like in the past.

The first draft of the tool that they have produced was shared with the Critical Friends group and, once updated with their feedback, will be available to share publicly very soon! We are working with the team at The Castle to see if we can have it on display there, as well as looking at other opportunities to share with the community in Bude Do get in touch if you have some ideas on groups that might be interested (futurecoastbude@cornwall.gov.uk).

Youth Board: a group of residents aged 16-30

18 applications to be part of the Youth Board have been received. All those who applied have been successful in securing a place.

The group will meet for the first time at the beginning of March to find out more about the project, then there will be 2 training weekends.

The first will be led by 2 Minute Foundation and will be based around the films that they have produced. This will help the group feel confident about coastal processes.

The second weekend will be led by Charity ‘Voice’ who will provide training on how to plan and deliver events, data analysis, report writing and how to be an ambassador for a project.

The group will then:

Be paid to help with wider community engagement events that they get involved in.
Help the project reach a younger audience, to ensure the voices of those most impacted by coastal change are represented as part of the project.

Sand recycling and reducing wind-blown sand – Summerleaze car park

Work to move sand from the car park onto the front of the dune is planned to start week commencing 23 March and is likely to take a couple of weeks. Parts of the car park will be fenced off to enable this work to be done safely.

Plans to re-align the path through the dunes have been modified, to take into account the exciting discovery of lizards (a protected species) in the dune. As much work as can be done to reduce the amount of sand blowing onto the car park will still take place, without causing any disturbance to the lizard’s habitat.

Summerleaze Beach urgent health and safety repairs – undertaken by Cornwall Council

Work will be taking place throughout the beginning of March to remove and repair damaged wire baskets that help keep the river in place. This work is being done by Cornwall Council. The longer-term future of these wire baskets at Summerleaze is being considered as part of the project.

More information about this work can be found here: Urgent health and safety repairs.

Beach huts

Beach hut user drop-in sessions were run in February half term and were well attended. These were invitation only events for people who rent a beach hut.

The project team worked with representatives from the Bude Area Tourist Board to talk to the beach hut users about a range of topics. Key learning included:

The diverse reasons why people have a hut - some for the social side, some for the opposite (for peace and quiet) and everything in between!
Most attendees were in favour of future huts being constructed from more durable composite material which would be much lower-maintenance and have a longer life.
Most attendees were not keen to construct their own huts on a plot, but were concerned about the need for maintenance and investment now.
The importance of proximity to the beach and the view are key - potential sites for beach huts further from the sea were not popular.

Overall, all attendees were in agreement that the Beach Huts are a vital part of the character of Bude’s beaches and should be part of any investment and planning for the future of Bude’s coastline.

Work to repair the damaged boardwalk with beach huts on at Summerleaze is expected to be undertaken in March.

Work with Cormac

Cormac, part of Cornwall Council, is continuing work to look at what would be required to relocated public assets away from vulnerable locations at the coast. A drone survey has been undertaken to better understand which parts of the cliffs are most vulnerable, and ground investigation works are planned to understand more about future locations for the coast path and future parking options.

Cormac are currently working to try and determine what work will require planning permission and what work could be delivered within the time frame of the project (before April 2027).

January 2026 project update

Shaping Bude’s Coast Together – Survey (closes 8 February) Over 9,100 postcards have been sent to households across Bude inviting people to share their views on the future of the coastline. Support sessions have been offered at Berries Community Café, the Library, the Pearl Exchange, and The Hub at the Sea Pool. Over 220 people have responded so far, with current themes including clean water and pollution control, protecting natural features and coastal ecosystems and managing coastal erosion and flood risk. The feedback will help design community workshops at the end of April, which will contribute to a Coastal Vision for Bude. Take the survey here: Shaping Bude's Coast Together \| Let's Talk Cornwall
	Youth Board – Applications (deadline extended to 23 February) Young people aged 16–30 can join a Youth Board to help run workshops, review the results, and contribute to the Coastal Vision. Members will receive training to support them in this work and gift vouchers to thank them for their time. The Youth Board launched on 19 January and has been promoted at Budehaven Sixth Form, the Pearl Exchange, the Job Centre, and Berries Community Café. Read more here: Future Coast Bude Youth Board: A board for young resident aged 16-30 - recruitment open! \| Future Coast Bude \| Let's Talk Cornwall Apply here: Future Coast Youth Board: A board for young residents aged 16-30 Application form \| Let's Talk Cornwall
Sand Recycling & Reducing Wind-Blown Sand – Summerleaze Car Park The project team has brought together everyone involved with Summerleaze car park and agreed that some of the wind-blown sand will be removed in March. Read more here: Wind blown sand on Summerleaze car park - we are listening \| Future Coast Bude \| Let's Talk Cornwall We have also been working closely with the RNLI and Bude Dunes Group and will be moving the RNLI access way through the dunes to a different angle in March. This should reduce the amount of sand blowing into the car park. Read more here: Summerleaze Sand Recycling & Dune Care Plan (2026–2027) – January 2026 update \| Future Coast Bude \| Let's Talk Cornwall
	Bude Park and Ride – Pilot Phase 2 Go Cornwall has been appointed to run a second park and ride pilot over summer 2026. Following feedback from last year, the service will start at 8am, run until 6pm, and include a stop at Crooklets. More details will be shared soon.
Beach Huts Bude Area Tourist Board is working with beach hut tenants and Cornwall Council on a Beach Hut Management Plan. This looks at the condition of existing huts, how they are used, and which are most at risk from coastal erosion. Future options for relocating huts will be discussed with tenants at events in February. Increasing the provision of accessible huts is also a priority.
	Work with the Maritime Archaeological Trust (MAT) MAT is collecting all available evidence - photos, paintings, maps, charts, and soil information to show what Bude’s coastline looked like in the past. This resource will be ready to share publicly by April.
2 Minute Foundation The project team has prepared short topic papers to explain some coastal processes. 2 Minute Foundation will turn these into four 2-minute films, ready to share in March. 2 Minute Foundation also continues to work with young people in schools and at home, helping them understand how coastal erosion and sea-level rise could affect Bude.
	Work with the RNLI The project team is helping the RNLI to consider future options for moving their lifeboat station at Summerleaze when the current site can no longer function effectively. For context, it took 20 years from deciding the previous station was unsuitable to opening the current one, so it is important to start planning early.
Work with Cormac Cormac, part of Cornwall Council, is looking at increasing the capacity of the Crooklets overflow car park, future options for toilets at Summerleaze and Crooklets, moving beach huts, and relocating the coast path further inland. The public will be consulted on these options at events in April 2026.
	Cables at Crooklets Meetings have taken place with Vodafone, Google and BT Group about the cables that come onshore at Crooklets. These cables may be affected by the lowering beach level due to coastal change. The project team will present at the European Subsea Cable Association conference in March to raise awareness and involve cable providers in future planning.
Conferences The project team has run a workshop at the Flood and Coastal Innovation Programme Winter Conference in Hull and presented at the Coastal Futures Conference in London to share Bude’s work.