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Boscombe gets first European artificial reef

01 Jan 2008

SOUTH COAST: Europe’s first artificial surf reef at Boscombe, Bournemouth, has been given the go-ahead from the Marine and Fisheries Agency (MFA) which has granted Bournemouth Borough Council a special environment licence to begin construction of the £1.4m project, writes Iain Sutherland.

The reef will be located to the east of Boscombe Pier (about 2.5km from Bournemouth Pier) and the submerged reef will take up approximately one hectare (the size of a football pitch) which will be 225m from the shoreline.

The reef mimics the effects of a natural reef and will be built from large geo-textile bags pumped hard with sand. Work will start next spring and be finished in time for the autumn swell.

Specialist construction material for the reef will be ordered, including the ecologically sound geo-textile bags, from Australia and the webbing base from New Zealand.

Bournemouth Surf Reef in Boscombe will be one of four artificial reefs worldwide: Narrowneck, Queensland; Cables, Western Australia and Mt. Maunganui, New Zealand.

Award-winning designers, Wayne and Geraldine Hemingway are creating beach huts for both surfers and holiday makers, as part of the Overstrand redevelopment.

Paul Clarke from the Bournemouth Surfing Centre, said: ‘The reef spells a boom time for the area: surfing first hit our beaches in the 1960s and today Bournemouth has the third largest population of surfers in the country.'

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