Shortlisted: Planning Awards and Pineapple Awards, 2024

Jaywick Sands is the only one of the plotlands communities that retains its original small plot, low-rise high density form - an important part of social history but now a community with the highest level of deprivation in the UK. It faces a severe threat from sea level rise due to climate change, and this will affect the most deprived residents the most, due to the fragility of much of the housing.

Commissioned by Tendring District Council, and working closely with a wide range of bodies including the Environment Agency, Essex County Council, Homes England and DLUHC, we have been working on a regeneration plan to improve flood resilience, housing quality and the wider built environment in Jaywick Sands since late 2018. Through many rounds of research, ideation and consulation with the community and other partners, we have developed a comprehensive strategy that retains what is special about Jaywick, proposes new infrastructure that will both improve flood defences and improve the accessibility of the beach and oportunities for tourism, and addresses the improvement of poor quality homes through working with property owners as well as through redevelopment of abandoned plots by the Council itself.

Alongside the Place Plan we developed a Design Guide SPD, which was adopted in 2022. We worked closely with the Environment Agency to develop a design approach that encourages the replacement of poor quality, non-resilient homes with safer dwellings, while working within the constraints of the extremely tight plot pattern.

This project has led to our involvement in other initiatives locally, supporting a range of local groups. We contributed to an exhibition at the Jaywick Martello Tower about flooding and coastal climate change - Tides of Tendring. We have supported Inclusion Ventures and the Jaywick Sands Community Land Trust to gain planning consent for new premises locally.