The existing sea wall at Torcross. Photo: Colin Vosper, CC BY-SA 2.0Construction has begun on a £19.8 million Environment Agency scheme to protect Torcross in Devon from further damage after the storms of January and February 2026.

Around 90,000 tonnes of rock armour will be placed along the shoreline to reduce wave energy. The scheme will also repair the car park defences and extend the slipway. Kier Infrastructure is the engineering contractor, and all the necessary consents and licences are in place. The Marine Management Organisation, Natural England, Devon County Council and South Hams District Council are also involved.

Just under 60,000 tonnes of rock will arrive by sea and about 30,000 tonnes by road. Shipments run from mid-October to early December 2026, with road deliveries continuing until the end of January 2027. The rock armour will be installed between October 2026 and April 2027, followed by the slipway extension and car park sheet piling in spring 2027; the car park is expected to reopen in early summer. All dates are indicative.

George Arnison, Environment Agency project lead, said: “We’re really pleased to have got to this critical point where we have the green light to start construction.”

Philip Ramsay, operations director at Kier Infrastructure, said: “The collaborative effort has ensured that we can now start construction in October.”

The work is paid for from the Environment Agency’s existing Investment Programme, which is ring-fenced for flood and coastal defence and separate from funding for the A379 road, which Devon County Council manages. The site lies within the Slapton Ley Site of Special Scientific Interest and close to the Skerries Banks and Surrounds Marine Conservation Zone.

Source: Environment Agency, 14 October 2026 (original press release on GOV.UK). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Photo: Colin Vosper, Torcross – sea defences, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 2.0.