News from the Slapton Line Partnership
The Slapton Line Partnership (SLP) is a multi-agency forum that brings together representatives of the coastal communities of Start Bay with local government and other agencies working to help the community adapt to the changing coastline. The Partnership has been hard at work since the January-February storms, with working groups focused on different aspects of adapting to the post-storm realities publishing minutes of their first meetings this week. You can read minutes of the Amenities working group here, and minutes of the Inland Routes working group here.
Sold-out Annual Parish Meeting hears Secrets of Shifting Sands
Stokenham village hall was packed last Tuesday for the Annual Parish Meeting, where a capacity audience at the all-ticket affair heard a talk by Gerd Masselink entitled “Coastal erosion in Start Bay – Can we have our shingle back please?”
Professor Masselink heads up the Coastal Processes Research Group at Plymouth University and is widely acclaimed as the world’s leading authority on the changing coastline of southwest England. He held his audience spellbound for over an hour with a series of photographs, charts, graphs and diagrams that spelled out in painstaking detail the reasons behind the rapid loss of shingle at the southern end of each of the embayments in Start Bay, the key factor responsible for the unusually high degree of damage sustained by both the buildings on Torcross seafront and the A379 Slapton Line road in the January-February 2026 storm sequence. 
Using detailed wave height and direction data he was able to show that it was a freak combination of wave direction, lowered beach height, and spring high tides, together with the wind direction of the previous two storms, that was responsible for the most significant destruction.
The talk was followed by a question-and-answer session, before adjournment for a more informal chat over a glass of wine. “It wasn’t an easy message to hear,” said one audience member, “but you can’t argue with the science.”
“It’s really made me think about how we’re going to have to adapt to the changing climate,“ said another. “There’s only going to be one winner in a battle with the sea.”
Annual Parish Meeting – last call for tickets!
With nearly two-thirds of the available tickets already allocated, time is running out to book your seat for next Tuesday’s Annual Parish Meeting. The highlight of the evening is an illustrated talk from Gerd Masselink, professor of coastal geomorphology at Plymouth University, on the mysteries of shingle movement in Start Bay, on which subject he is a world authority, as well as a brief review of a year on the parish council. All this, and a glass of passable Fleurie (or a cup of tea, if that’s more your cup of tea) – what’s not to like? Get your FREE tickets here.
March draft minutes published
Draft minutes of March’s Full Council Meeting are now published and available here.
Traffic disruption, Home Close, Chillington
South West Water will be replacing the screen in the combined sewer outfall near 14 Home Close, Chillington, between 7.30 am on Monday 23 March and 5pm on Tuesday 24 March. Deliveries of material and equipment are expected to lead to some traffic disruption in the area during the period of work, which may cause knock-on effects on the A379 through Chillington.
How to get your tickets for this year’s Annual Parish Meeting
This year’s Annual Parish Meeting will – exceptionally – be a ticket-only event: we have had to introduce this step to prevent overcrowding issues in the hall, as we anticipate a great number of parishioners will want to hear our guest speaker Gerd Masselink’s take on what’s really going on with the movement of shingle in Start Bay. The good news is that tickets are FREE, and you can get yours now by simply clicking on the DIARY OF EVENTS tab on the Parish Council website (www.stokenham-pc.gov.uk/events). Find the 31 March entry for the Annual Parish Meeting and a box will appear that says GET TICKETS – simply click on this and enter the number of tickets you want. Your requested tickets will be emailed to you, and you can either print them out to bring to the event, or show the tickets on your phone at the door.
As noted above, we expect the meeting to be full: once all the tickets have been “sold” we will be unable to issue any more. Tickets are available to order from today, so don’t delay in getting yours! And please don’t request any more tickets than you need, as this will prevent someone else from coming along.
Anyone who doesn’t have access to a computer or smart phone, or who is unable or prefers not to order online, can request a ticket from the Clerk or any parish councillor.
Annual Parish Meeting, Tuesday 31 March – save the date!
We are pleased to announce that Professor Gerd Masselink of Plymouth University will be the keynote speaker at this year’s APM, to be held on Tuesday 31 March at 6.30 pm in Stokenham Parish Hall.
Gerd is one of the world’s leading authorities on the geomorphology of the South Devon Coast, and knows all there is to know about the movement of shingle in Start Bay, so parishioners will want to get his take on recent events. Further details will be released in due course, but in the meantime save the date!