Riders 'will need to adapt' to changing beaches

A salt marsh is developing at the nature reserve

Horse-riders on the Lincolnshire coast have been warned they will need to adapt to a changing beach landscape.

Managers at the Saltfleetby-Theddlethorpe Dunes National Nature Reserve have launched a consultation into equestrian use of the site, where "the habitats are naturally changing".

The news prompted online comments expressing concern that Natural England, which runs the reserve, "wanted horses off the beaches".

But although managers said horses could damage a developing salt marsh, they insisted there was no question of limiting access to riders "at the moment".

Delphine Suty, the senior reserve manager, said the shores were changing from a sandy beach to a muddy one. A plant, samphire, was growing there.

"This green marsh forming is very important ecologically for the protection of the dune system and with that change we need to take into consideration our regular users, like the horse-riders, and how we are going to work with them to adapt," she said.

There was no obvious solution at this stage, but she hoped riders would help to find one.

Ms Suty says she is hoping to find a solution that works for riders and the salt marsh

Ideas under consideration include allowing fewer riders, changing the location of the car park, or creating a "better loop" for riders, with "access to a different section of the beach".

Ms Suty rejected suggestions that horses were not welcome.

"There are many places where horse riding is occurring in protected sites, so it is unfair to suggest we want horses out of Saltfleetby-Theddlethorpe. That is definitely not the message."

She added: "How can we make this activity still happen on site without causing too much disturbance to this newly forming salt marsh?"

Riders have been invited to consultation meetings at Theddlethorpe Village Hall on Sunday, between 13:30 and 14:30 GMT, and on Wednesday, from 19:00 to 20:00.

Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.