Health, wellbeing and regeneration in coastal resorts

Regional planning for a sustainable coast

The South West of England has 62 per cent of the region’s 5.2 million population residing in the coastal area, and living within 10 kilometres of the sea.45 With a 700 mile coastline that includes more than 60 per cent of England’s heritage coast, it has good reason to concentrate on the sustainability and vitality of its coastal communities.

The conference ‘Our Coast and Public Health’ has been held every two years since 2004. The conference is organised by the South West Regional Public Health Group and is now drawing together a wide range of partners to take stock of the challenges to sustainable living in the south-western coastal areas. Sustainable development is all about achieving a balance between social, economic and environmental considerations in any decision.

Tourism is one of the key planks in the south-west’s coastal economy. It also creates an environmental footprint and imposes a growing demand on infrastructure. People holidaying, as well as people who live and work, at the coast need roads, healthcare, power, waste disposal facilities, water supplies and sewage treatment etc. Providing this infrastructure can come into conflict with the qualities of attractive coastal resorts. For example 40–50 million people walk along the SW Coast Path every year. The people who travel to the region contribute to the local economy, and over 89 per cent of these walks are over an hour46 and so good for body and soul. Wherever possible this path needs to be sheltered from all the infrastructure needed to support the walkers.

How can we characterise the population? Two key facts are that, of the nine English regions, the South West has

• the highest life expectancy for women (82.0 years compared with 80.9 for England) and for men (77.8 years versus 76.6);
  
• the highest percentage of people of retirement age and above (21.7 per cent compared with 18.5 per cent for England; males 65+, females 60+).

The regional average of people who have reached retirement age is even more noticeable in some of the counties and towns. For example, the 2004 mid-year population estimates showed Dorset county and Torbay as each having more than a quarter of their populations of retirement age and above. The combination of longevity and a high ratio of elderly to general population will increase the burden of both primary and domiciliary healthcare.

In 2008, the conference agreed to work towards an action plan with, and for, all coastal communities in the South West to ensure an ongoing, cohesive, inter-sectoral approach to sustainable development. The Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) has been identified as the key policy document as this sets the spatial planning framework for the South West for the next 20 years.

As preparation for the 2010 conference, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) set up groups to look at tourism, infrastructure, environment and health. The groups enjoy a wide membership including the Environment Agency, Department of Health South West, South West Strategic Health Authority, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, South West Public Health Observatory, South West Tourism, Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, academia and government. These groups will shape the conference as they consider and report on what is going to be required over the next two decades, by which time the population of the South West is expected to have grown by approximately 900,000 people. It is projected the region will have 6.1 million residents by 2026, twenty per cent more than in 2006. This is higher than the projected UK increase of 14 per cent.

The RSS will now become a single regional strategy and have regional objectives for economic growth. This moves the goalposts in favour of economic policies. The current challenge is to demonstrate how social and environmental policies for coastal communities are integral to economic stability in the South West of England.