Swanage Town Council has revealed its preferred scheme to stop ground slippage along a section of the town’s seafront in Dorset, is the more expensive £6.9 million option, but to bring the plan to fruition it desperately needs a grant of £2.5 million from Dorset Council.
In the town council’s Green Seafront Ground Stabilisation Project outline business case, published on 22nd April 2026, the detailed document presents evidence of ground slippage, the engineering methods to deal with it, the two main design options, and the costs.
Ground slippage has caused the wall to fail along Walrond Road so has been fenced off for safety
Both options require additional funding
Following public consultations, two design options emerged for the re-stabilisation of the land which includes Sandpit Field, Weather Station Field, and the Spa beach hut terrace.
Swanage Town Council has already got £4.4 million to pay for the work, comprising of town council reserves and a contribution from Dorset Council’s Community Infrastructure Levy, as of February 2026.
Both options require additional funding. They are:
- New Option – costing about £6.9 million which includes stabilising the ground plus the filling in part of Walrond Road, building more beach huts, and making paths more accessible. £2.5 million funding gap
- Essential Option – costing about £4.75 million which basically stabilises the ground and refurbishes the Spa beach hut area but not much else. £350,000 funding gap
New Option costing about £6.9 million
Essential Option costing about £4.75 million
National Lottery application unsuccessful
The report discloses that Swanage Town Council had an application for additional funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund turned down:
“To date the council has attempted to access a number of different routes to secure grant funding. In 2025, an application to the National Lottery Heritage Fund was unsuccessful.
“Unfortunately, it has become apparent that very few grants are available to public bodies for large scale capital works.”
Having considered and ruled out the possibility of selling any major assets or borrowing the extra £2.5 million, the council is hoping Dorset Council will come to the rescue.
The outline business case has been sent to Dorset Council and it’s expected that a decision whether or not to provide a £2.5 million grant will be made at a meeting of the Cabinet on Tuesday 19th May 2026.
Also at the meeting, funding for the changes to Shore Road which runs along the front of the Green Seafront, will also be considered.
Weather Station Field is subsiding and could be enhanced
Sandpit Field is a popular event space next to the beach
Financial benefit
In the outline business case, the council presents an argument for implementing the New Option over the Essential Option, including increased accessibility, better biodiversity, improved event space for community events, but probably the most compelling reason is the financial benefit:
“From a financial perspective and assuming that the council is successful in obtaining grant funding, the New Option is considered to offer a more advantageous long-term position for the council when compared to the Essential Option.
“While the Essential Option requires little additional capital investment, it involves relatively high costs to replace like-for-like infrastructure, delivers limited opportunity for income growth and fails to improve the site for the community and enhance the local economy.
“In contrast, the New Option requires an additional capital investment compared to the Essential Option, but this enables a broader range of revenue-generating opportunities, reduces pressure on the Council’s annual revenue budget, and supports a faster recovery to pre-scheme income levels.”
Spa beach hut terrace used to have 35 beach huts but now there are only 14 as the lower terraces were closed due to ground instability
The redeveloped Spa beach huts have a great view of the bay and potential to bring in a steady income for the council
New beach huts could be available to buy
Delving deeper into the document the primary source of generating more income for the council is from beach huts. The New Option proposes installing 46 beach huts on an extended terrace area, while the Essential Option offers 39 huts on the original footprint, so clearly the New Option will generate the most amount of money.
The council has examined three options to generate income from the beach huts
- Sell (on a 25 year lease) all the Spa beach huts individually over a period of time
- Rent all the Spa beach huts individually
- Mix of rental and leasehold sales of the Spa beach huts
If a leasehold sale option is chosen, it could be the best chance for people to buy a beach hut in Swanage for a long time. While individual beach huts do come up for sale occasionally, the price of around £50,000 reflects the rarity of supply.
The estimated figures listed in the document to purchase a beach hut on a 25 year lease are around £23,950 (Essential Option) or around £27,900 (New Option). Presumably the New Option beach huts will have better facilities. However these prices are only indicative and are probably very conservative.
The popular Shore Road beach huts are rented out by the council, and along with the small number of usable Spa beach huts, bring in an income of around £195,000 a year
Rental provides long term income stream
In many ways, the better option for Swanage is to rent out all the beach huts so the maximum number of residents and visitors can benefit from the facilities, and to provide a long term income stream, but this would mean no quick income gain in the first few years after the project is completed.
It is estimated that renting out 39 Spa beach huts as part of the Essential Option will generate an annual income of £57,500, while the New Option will generate an estimated £78,000 a year. From this, there will be costs including business rates and maintenance to take into account.
In addition, the New Option is estimated to generate £20,000 a year from a cafe concession and £10,000 a year from the new outdoor event space next to the Spa beach hut terrace. It is envisaged the lawned area with panoramic sea views could be booked for small weddings or summer parties.
Prince Albert Gardens in Swanage was developed by the town council in 1996 and now 30 years later is a treasured part of the town, illustrating how investment can boost tourism
Final decision lies with Dorset Council
As there is no guarantee that cash-strapped Dorset Council will be able to provide a £2.5 million grant, Swanage Town Council says it will submit a planning application for both the New Option and the Essential Option.
Over the years, there have been key decisions which have shaped Swanage. A Swanage railway branch line was built, closed and then restored, but a bypass round Corfe Castle never happened. The much loved and appreciated Prince Albert Gardens was created but the marina proposal was scrapped.
Now the question is, will we stick with the Green Seafront we’ve got, albeit stabilised and not slipping, or be able to invest in the area, better support major events like Swanage Carnival, improve the natural environment and accessibility, while also providing a reasonable future income stream?
It looks like the final decision is now down to Dorset Council.
Further information
- Read the Swanage Town Council Green Seafront Ground Stabilisation Project outline business case
- Background on the Green Seafront scheme
