Southsea Coastal Scheme: Stunning drone footage captures ongoing work to protect Portsmouth from flooding

The Southsea Sea Defences project is a multi-million pound coastal scheme that is designed to prevent major flooding in the city over the next 100 years. Over the past few years, since the project started, there has been a lot of progress, and recent drone images demonstrate the work that has already been completed as part of the eight-year project.

It is the UK’s largest local authority-led coastal defences project. The sea defence work will stretch for 4.5km from Old Portsmouth to Eastney, and help to reduce the risk of flooding to more than 10,000 homes and 700 businesses. Visitors to the area will be able to see excavators moving large quantities onto the Southsea shoreline to create a natural flood defence, and pictures by local drone hobbyist My Portsmouth By Drone show portions of the coast which have already been transformed.

When will the coastal scheme end?

The Southsea Coastal Scheme began on the new sea defences back in September 2020. It is due to be completed by 2028. The Southsea Coastal Scheme timeline shows that the current area of focus is Frontage 3 - in the vicinity of Southsea Common. You can find out more on the Southsea Coastal Scheme website.

Watch the embedded video - captured by local hobbyist My Portsmouth By Drone - to see how the coastline looks currently.