Just before the floods, Rural Minister Rory Stewart found time to speak about progress on the England Coast Path.
Work on making this a reality begun last autumn with Natural England looking at the stretch between Chewton Bunny and Calshot.
As regards the Sandbanks to Milford-on-Sea Bournemouth Coast Path, the great challenge will be managing to agree a clifftop route between Chewton Bunny and Barton-on-sea. This is a short but crucial stretch of crumbling cliff along the south side of the Naish Farm holiday caravan park.
Achieving an official safe path here would remove the necessity for walkers to have to go up Chewton Bunny and along the main road before returning through housing to the cliff top at Barton.
Chewton Bunny is lovely but the main road and residential area feel some way from the sea.
Tom Marshall-Lord, Natural England’s Team Leader for Coastal Access South and South East, says: “Our footpath will be along the top of the cliff and will be a safe distance away.”
The target date for opening the continuous path is 2018 which seems ambitious.
