St Annes Sand Dunes 5.22

St Annes Sand Dunes: the main areas of interest are the coastal habitats from Squire's Gate in the north (at the northern limit of the Fylde Council boundary), continuing southwards and eastwards around the coast to the western edge of Lytham Green; most of which is owned by Fylde or Blackpool Council.

The main aims for management of the Fylde Sand Dunes are to:

• enhance the nature conservation interest of the coastal habitats,
• improve the efficiency of the dunes and saltmarsh as soft sea-defence (with associated cost savings in maintenance of hard sea-defences) and
• enhance public appreciation and enjoyment of the dunes.

Management works to achieve these aims will include enabling natural seaward accretion of
the dunes by removing the current causes of man-induced erosion (both to increase the area of wildlife habitat and to improve the efficiency of flood defence), together with grassland and scrub management works to enhance the nature conservation value of the existing dunes.

The Dunes are also extremely important because of their flood-defence properties; both by providing a barrier to inundation and by releasing sand during storm conditions to reduce wave action. This natural coastal defence is hugely cost-effective compared to the expenses incurred in maintaining the alternative sea-walls and other hard coastal defences, and often far more efficient. While much depleted, the remnant dunes in Fylde Borough still form the most significant part of the Borough's coastal defence.

Sand dunes are also popular for informal recreation and hence indirectly generate revenue for the local economy.