Planning for an uncertain future: The challenges of a locally based collaborative approach to coastal development decisions

In England spatial planning decisions with regard to development in coastal areas at risk of flooding or erosion are largely devolved to negotiations at what is said to be the local scale. Such development is discouraged but may be allowed so long as it is possible to demonstrate wider sustainability benefits said to outweigh the risk. It is at this point a range of stakeholders, representing different organisations and concerns must come together to try and resolve the tension between new development and risk reduction. Participants must navigate an evolving, complex, multiscale risk governance network to achieve an effective risk dialogue. The paper critically examines this apparently local, collaborative method, to understand the contributions and challenges of such an approach and provide suggestions to support this process. Semi structured interviews with thirty interviewees across three coastal locations in England reveal a number of key areas of contention, centred on: the risk data, local boundaries and planning timescales. In a complex system, mixing formal and informal planning spaces, stakeholders represent diverse spaces, a variety of organisational concerns and different planning horizons. At least some local concerns have a significant influence, but the system struggles to address national and strategic issues.