Cuckmere Estuary Partnership

The meanders of the Cuckmere estuary and the white cliffs of the Seven Sisters in East Sussex combine to produce one of the most recognised features of South East England. 

However, the present estuary landscape is not natural. The river is constrained by earth banks and other flood defences, and these are now nearing the end of their lives. Under government guidelines, public money cannot be spent rebuilding and enlarging the defences as there are no homes at risk of flooding in the estuary.

This website has been set up by the Cuckmere Estuary Partnership, a coalition of local councils, heritage and conservation agencies who are committed to ensuring a sustainable long-term future for the estuary.

Change is inevitable, and we want to explore all possible options. Our aim is to work together with the community to agree and develop the best possible outcome, and to then attempt to find the funding to make it happen. We ran a major public engagement programme in 2009 to listen to local views on how the Estuary can best be managed in future. The results of this can be read here.

Under Defra’s Coastal Change Pathfinder fund, this work is now being built on through the Cuckmere Pathfinder project. This project, which will run until April 2011, will work alongside the community in exploring different ways of planning for, and managing, change in the area. Please note that the Cuckmere Estuary Partnership website is no longer active, but will remain available for archive purposes. For the latest news and developments, please visit the pathfinder website here.