Our Green Environment

On driving or walking onto the Aldwick Bay Estate, two things are immediately apparent: empty roads and a lush green vista.

Shingle footpaths with neat trimmed verges are the hall mark, but the thing that really stands out are the trees, a truly wonderful asset which despite the best efforts of the “Great Storm in 1987” contribute hugely to the environment for all to enjoy. A survey is carried out by a fully qualified arboriculturist at five yearly intervals to ensure the stock is in good health with any follow up work undertaken by the gardeners under the watchful eye of the Company’s Director for Trees, Plants and Verges. There is also an annual program of planting and trimming to ensure the estate’s green environment will be around for many years to come.

The Beach

The Beach at the southern edge of the estate is owned by the Company down to the Mean High Water Springs mark.

Its entire length is fringed with a rare plant community more commonly known as Vegetated Shingle. This habitat is notified as having international conservation significance, since it only occurs in Britain, Northern Europe, Japan and New Zealand. Natural England, the Government’s advisory body on nature conservation, recognised the importance of this stretch of coastline in 1980 by designating over four kilometres of beach between Channel View and Waterloo Square as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

There are seven coastal SSSIs in Sussex and of these, only four have areas of vegetated shingle. Therefore, it behoves the residents of the Estate, as well as our families and friends who visit from time to time, to do everything possible to respect the status of the beach and keep it free from any forms of litter. Further information can be obtained from the Arun District Council Vegetated Shingle Officer.

Below is a selection of lovely photographs taken by Mark Marriott

April 2021