On schedule
The implementation of the Decision on Sand and the preferential strategy for the Coast are largely on schedule.
The preferential strategy for the Coast is aimed at a safe, appealing, and economically viable coast by connecting the flood risk management tasking with spatial ambitions. The integrated tasking set out in the National Coastal Vision will remain the point of departure. The Minister of Infrastructure and the Environment and the coastal partners involved have drawn up a Coastal Pact and will set down a zoning plan to regulate construction in the coastal zone. Substantiation of the Decision on Sand, which is focused on keeping the sand budget along the Dutch coast up to par by means of sand replenishment, has been initiated with the Coastal Genesis 2.0 research programme.
The implementation of the Decision on Sand and the preferential strategy for the Coast are largely on schedule.
Coastal Genesis 2.0 is a long-term research programme focused on sand transport along the Dutch coast (morphology) and future sand replenishment. All the sub-studies to be conducted under the framework programme have been outsourced. The demand for knowledge regarding “sand extraction”, “ecology”, and “spatial planning and the economy” will be elaborated further under the National Water and Climate Knowledge and Innovation Programme (NKWK). Constructive consultations regarding these open questions are being conducted with the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the provinces, district water boards, universities, and private parties. Rijkswaterstaat is mapping out the environmental effects of sand extraction and replenishment in its regular Coastal Maintenance programme, in collaboration with Coastal Genesis 2.0 and the long-term Ecologically Targeted Replenishment programme. Under this programme, the Ministry of Economic Affairs is monitoring benthic life. By 2020, the results of Coastal Genesis 2.0 will enable well substantiated decisions regarding the question of whether and how replenishment policy needs to be adjusted.
On 21 February 2017, the Minister of Infrastructure and the Environment signed the Coastal Pact along with nearly sixty other parties, among which are provinces, coastal municipalities, district water boards, nature organisations, and the (private) leisure sector. The Coastal Pact sets out final agreements on the regulation of new recreational construction along the coast, based on a zoning plan. The provinces are elaborating the zoning plan in consultation with the parties involved. In anticipation of its adoption, the parties are gearing their preparation of any new spatial plans to the zoning plan wherever possible. The governments will anchor the final zoning in policy and regulations. In addition, the parties involved in the Coastal Pact underscore that any new developments to accommodate leisure functions in the coastal zone must always fit within the preconditions pertaining to flood risk management, drinking water supply, and nature preservation.
In collaboration with the North Sea coastal municipalities, nature and environmental organisations, tourist interest groups, the Southern Agriculture and Horticulture Organization ZLTO, Rijkswaterstaat, and the district water board, the province of Zeeland has drawn up the Coastal Vision for Zeeland comprising three taskings: maintenance and improvement of the dykes and beaches, preservation of nature and landscape values, and the future of the leisure sector. In 2018, the province will translate the Coastal Vision into a new Provincial Environmental Vision. The coastal provinces of Zuid-Holland and Noord-Holland are making preparations for drawing up similar visions.
At the end of 2016, the Weak Links on the Coast programme was rounded off with the official completion of the last section of the West-Zeeuws-Vlaanderen weak link, in the new marina in Cadzand. The entire coast will thus be secure for the decades ahead, and has been given a boost in terms of spatial quality. In the Meijendel area in Zuid-Holland, the development of artificial inlets in the sea strip is being monitored. Along the coast of Delfland, a monitoring process is mapping out the impact of dune compensation on the Maasvlakte port extension and the impact of the Sand Engine (consequences in terms of flood risk management and natural values). The Sand Engine has evolved into an internationally acclaimed innovation icon and has actually expanded the coastal zone.
Currently, there is no need to reconsider the preferential strategy. With respect to flood risk management, the coastal system will remain up to par for the decades ahead, if the required maintenance with sand replenishment is continued. The coast will also be subjected to an assessment based on the new standards. The expectation is that the coast will largely meet those standards. This statutory twelve-year assessment, the results of Coastal Genesis 2.0, and the insights provided by the Signal Group enable an adequate response to the potentially accelerated rise in sea level and other unexpected developments. The monitoring process has shown that the sandy coast is well supplied with sand. Consequently, in the next four years, less sand will be required than originally planned.
Within the context of Coastal Genesis 2.0, a study is being conducted into a new coastal management method. By way of a pilot project, approx. 5 million cubic metres of sand will be replenished in the outer delta between the islands of Ameland and Terschelling, in the Amelander tidal inlet. Good relations are being maintained with the SEAWAD research project (see Paragraph 4.7, Wadden Region).
Regional parties may indicate their wishes regarding sand replenishment during the annual consultations on the Coastal Care programme, in order to ensure that the replenishments tie in with leisure functions, nature, and other developments in the area. Where possible, Rijkswaterstaat will incorporate such wishes into the programme. In the programme for 2016-2019, the deposit locations for replenishment of the coastal foundation have been selected on the basis of the consultations in such a manner as to accommodate the regional wishes to the maximum extent possible.
The coastal pearls are tackled in the purview of an integrated approach. At the Kop van Schouwen and Brouwersdam coastal pearls, a re-distribution of replenishment sand has produced gains for nature, leisure facilities, and the economy. The replenishment process was completed in 2016. The dynamic dune management pursued in the Kop van Schouwen and De Manteling coastal pearls greatly fosters the nationwide programme to reduce nitrogen emissions.
The province of Zuid-Holland is realising the Hollandse Duinen National Park. The municipality of The Hague is drawing up plans to revitalise the coast around the port of Scheveningen.
The establishment of the Coastal Pact has shown that commitment to the coast is great, and that parties are liaising quickly. The Pact involves a joint effort by a wide range of national and regional parties. Every year, the National Consultation Committee on the Coast organises a National Coast Day, enabling all the parties involved in the coast to exchange knowledge and experience regarding the progress of the National Coastal Vision: governments, the business community, NGOs, and research institutes. The regional area processes relating to the coast also demonstrate broad-based commitment. The annual consultations on the national Coastal Maintenance programme are also conducive to participation.
An energy-neutral and climate-proof new residential area will be built in the coastal municipality of Noordwijk. The impact project on climate-proof development in Noordwijk (third round of impact projects) is drawing up a step-by-step plan for this region regarding climate-proof area development in future residential areas. The plan contains information on, e.g., the criteria to be met by climate-proof neighbourhoods, and the resources and parties required for their design. The impact project also yields knowledge on costs and benefits, and rules for climate-adaptive planning and design.