Formby tops National Trust's coastal erosion danger list

National Trust call for more to be done to save Formby from the sea which is losing four meters a year.

A new report by the National Trust states that Formby is one of the country's fasting eroding coastal towns.

The report, highlighting the danger posed by coastal erosion, claims that Formby is losing four meters a year to the sea, and calls for more to be done to defend it.

Formby beach at National Trust is laiden with bricks and rubble from an old car park in the 1960's. The shifting sands covered it, over a number of years but, the sea is now eroding the sand dunes and the rubble is constantly being exposed and moved along the beach with high tides.

Last year, the National Trust spent around £12,000 hiring machinery to take the rubble off the beach and are fighting a constant battle due to the erosion.

Kate Martin, Area Ranger for Formby said: ‘Everything we plan to do at Formby affects our neighbours, as their plans affect us. There is a balance to be struck so that people and nature can co-exist.

It’s home to rare dune and woodland species such as natterjack toads and the iconic red squirrels.’ "Formby is a complex coastal site, sitting on the edge of major urban areas, and a magnet for visitors. It needs significant investment to meet the high standards of land and nature conservation management the Trust believes in, and also to let us try out innovative ideas for adaptation.

We can all be fearful of future change at the coast, so we are involving the local community at every stage of our plans. We are developing a coastal adaptation strategy, working with our key partners, in which is embedded our desire to maintain a healthy coastline shaped by natural forces.

"If we act now, Formby should offer great outdoor experiences and enhance the quality of life of the urban communities of Liverpool, central Lancashire and Greater Manchester for generations to come."

David Adams, chairman of Sefton woodland monitoring group, said: "There have been serious concerns about rapid erosion at Formby for many years now. I know the National Trust is particularly worried about Formby Point.

"I had thought that the dredging in the Liverpool basin should have been deposited at Formby rather than dumped into deep water. I think this silt would have helped coastal defences at Formby.

"Some of the homes on Victoria Road and Paradise Lane could be risk at some point soon, particularly if the erosion accelerates. It tends to do so when he have severe storms."