Hengistbury Head groyne 'could create surfing reserve'

Guy Penwarden says the long groyne could be remodelled to create a "point break-type wave"

A scheme to replace groynes at a Dorset beach could be adapted to create a surfing reserve, a report claims.

Former competitive surfer Guy Penwarden is urging Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council to consider reshaping the long groyne at Hengistbury Head, near Christchurch.

His report to the authority claims remodelling it would create the "most consistent" waves in Poole Bay.

BCP Council said its leader Vikki Slade was reviewing the plans.

Mr Penwarden, who lives in Bournemouth, said he had liaised with the Coastal Marine Applied Research team at Plymouth University and met members of BCP's beach management scheme before submitting the draft proposals.

His report said: "Due to the shortening of Boscombe Pier and the failure of the reef project - along with replenishment and dredging - all of which have had a negative impact on surfing, we are now faced with a situation where we have more and more surfers and less places to surf."

Artificial reef 'sub-standard'

Mr Penwarden, who has surfed all over the world, says remodelling the long groyne would create a "point break-type wave for the surf community", surfable on all tides and on more days per year, "even on small summer swells".

In 2009, a £3.2m artificial surf reef was opened off nearby Boscombe beach but a scientific study deemed the wave quality to be "sub-standard".

The company that built the reef, ASR Ltd, went into liquidation in 2012 and, by 2017, liquidators PWC had been unable to trace its director Nick Behunin.

A council spokeswoman said the priority of the authority's existing beach management plan was to protect the coast from erosion.

She said the leader of the council had reviewed the proposals and spoken to Mr Penwarden on Tuesday but had not yet indicated whether they would be explored further.