Our vision is to create a new climate resilient seascape on the northern shore of the Wirral peninsula, where natural processes dominate. By shifting from the destructive way that our coast has been managed in the past, new opportunities arise to bring in a new nature, one which protects our communities from the extreme impact of global warming and where rare and endangered wildlife can thrive. We need to re-frame our coastal mindset away from one of risk and fear to one of opportunity and optimism where new nature gives people opportunities to enjoy the environment, a stronger economy, and a better understanding our connectedness to nature.

This is an ambitious project, which not only seeks to change the shape of the land, but also the minds of the community. We are unprepared for our climate future. We need to move away from seeing nature as an enemy to embrace it as our ally. This project will blend both practical habitat improvements at scale while working with local people and politicians to address the threat of adverse climate change.

Our project will have three main objectives:

• Climate – a more resilient coast where a new dunes system offers a natural response to sea level rise and flooding and drainage and increased biodiversity
• Community – a more appealing shoreline with new space for recreation and well-being and the new opportunities for the coastal economy
• Connection – a chance to better understand our place in nature through learning and experience with dedicated visitor infrastructure and the potential for future specialist educational research facilities into coastal processes and climate issues

We see the primary benefits of Phase One: New Nature as being central to the whole project, all of which contribute to:

• raising awareness of environmental issues and climate change
• lowering the collective carbon footprint of the community
• no more use of chemicals; a more natural and unpolluted environment
• evolution of a dune system offers a more natural response to sea level rise
• evolution of a dune system offers improved future flood protection
• evolution of a dune system increases biodiversity and new habitats
• a new, more natural and clean, profiled amenity beach will form at the foot of a new dune system
• a more aesthetically attractive emerging foreshore over time
• opportunities for limited tourism and appropriately scaled and sited attractions (eg café, visitor centre, public conveniences
• opportunities for special interest groups e.g. bird hides / viewing points
• opportunities for increased awareness raising of natural coastal processes e.g. information board, visitor centre
• opportunities for new future educational /research facilities
• protecting the public realm and drainage systems from flood and wind blown sand impacts

There are therefore two strands to this phase:

• correlative physical and measurable change as a dunescape emerges, creating significant net gains in biodiversity
• growing public awareness resulting in lower carbon footprint