Project record

Folkestone to Hythe beach management works 2025-2030

Participation
Awarded
Participation checked

Chunnel holds the signed beach-management contract; the March campaign and April order are historical programme evidence, with autumn activity and accepted output unconfirmed

Participation source

Folkestone & Hythe District Council signed Chunnel Plant Hire and Contractors Limited on 3 November 2025 for GBP 2.3 million excluding VAT, GBP 2.76 million including VAT. The corrected term runs from 24 November 2025 to 2 November 2028, with an option to extend to 2 November 2030. The approximately 7 km programme recycles and regrades shingle between Fisherman's Beach, Hythe and Folkestone Harbour. The council's March announcement scheduled 100,000 tonnes over six to eight weeks, and its April disclosure records a GBP 120,000 Chunnel purchase order. Completed tonnage, accepted beach profiles and current autumn activity remain unconfirmed.

Chunnel-branded excavator and articulated dump trucks carrying out beach management and shingle recycling on the Folkestone and Hythe coast

Folkestone & Hythe District Council; programme image published with the August 2025 funding announcement, not a dated record of the spring 2026 campaign

Location

United Kingdom / Europe

Segment

Shingle recycling, beach regrading and coastal flood defence

Phase

Delivery / Confirmed

Last checked

14 October 2026

Coverage

Related sectors

Shingle recycling, beach regrading and coastal flood defence is the primary work classification. Related sectors connect this record to adjacent marine delivery and market coverage.

Subject index

Related subjects

These subject pages bring together related projects, technical articles, reports, and evidence methods.

Project anatomy

Contract scope and delivery roles

Client / authority
Folkestone & Hythe District Council, with Environment Agency grant funding for the five-year beach-management programme
Procurement references
DN778222; ocds-h6vhtk-054721; 079751-2025
Delivery parties
Chunnel Plant Hire and Contractors Limited - signed principal contractor, Beach-profile survey, haulage, environmental and other downstream parties - undisclosed
Contract route
Below-threshold open competition under the Procurement Act 2023, reference DN778222. Price carried 60% and quality 40%; three tenders were received and Chunnel was selected. The compiled record retains cancelled contract ID 1 for the incorrect earlier term and active signed contract ID 2 for the corrected three-year term with a two-year extension option. The UK7 notice published on 4 December records signature on 3 November 2025, GBP 2.3 million excluding VAT and GBP 2.76 million including VAT. The corrected contract remains separate from the withdrawn earlier record.
Execution window
Signed contract from 24 November 2025 to 2 November 2028, with a two-year extension option to 2 November 2030. The owner describes biannual campaigns. The spring 2026 campaign was scheduled to begin on 9 March and run for six to eight weeks; a completion notice has not been identified.
Works package
Recycling and regrading existing shingle along the approximately 7 km frontage between Fisherman's Beach in Hythe and Folkestone Harbour. Material is moved from east to west to raise and stabilise beach levels, protect the sea wall, reduce overtopping, flood and erosion risk, and limit landslip reactivation. The council's August 2025 funding release describes 160,000 m3 across the programme; the March 2026 campaign notice uses a separate operational measure of 100,000 tonnes.
Marine interfaces
Tidal and weather windows, live public beach access, haul routes and heavy-plant movement, longshore-drift response, existing sea-wall protection, buried timber groynes, seasonal environmental controls, storm-recovery work and beach-profile survey acceptance. The damaged Mermaid Beach breakwater is being considered separately and is not included in the evidenced Chunnel package.
Commercial evidence boundary
The signed contract is GBP 2.3 million excluding VAT. The council separately secured GBP 2.35 million of Environment Agency funding and disclosed a GBP 120,000 April 2026 purchase order to Chunnel. These values have different bases and must not be added or treated as actual programme expenditure. Annual work can vary with seasonal recycling requirements and ad hoc or emergency works.

Project timeline

Material developments

Dated events that changed scope, counterparties, delivery, commissioning or operating status.

Open this project in the Change Log

Council purchase order names Chunnel on the active programme

The April 2026 disclosure records a GBP 120,000 capital purchase order to Chunnel Group for Beach Management 2025-30. It supports contractor continuity but is not proof of payment, completed volume or acceptance.

Source

Spring campaign begins with 100,000 tonnes planned

The council announced a six-to-eight-week cycle moving shingle east to west between Fisherman's Beach and Folkestone Harbour. The release does not publish completed tonnage or profile acceptance.

Source

Contract details identify the corrected signed record

The UK7 identifies active contract ID 2, signed on 3 November, with a 24 November 2025 to 2 November 2028 initial period and possible extension to 2 November 2030.

Source

Earlier contract-term record withdrawn for correction

The compiled history marks contract ID 1 cancelled for an incorrect term; the corrected active contract ID 2 and continuing programme are separate.

Source

Chunnel beach-management contract signed

The UK7 notice published on 4 December records the 3 November signature, Chunnel, GBP 2.3 million excluding VAT, an initial three-year term and a two-year extension option.

Source

Environment Agency funding secures the five-year programme

The council reported GBP 2.35 million funding for biannual recycling and regrading, with a 160,000 m3 programme baseline protecting more than 3,000 homes and businesses.

Source

Evidence gap

What remains unverified

Outstanding evidence

  • Spring 2026 campaign completion date and measured tonnage
  • Pre- and post-work beach profile surveys and acceptance tolerances
  • Autumn 2026 recycling and regrading campaign scope
  • Mermaid Beach breakwater repair decision after Storm Goretti damage
  • Annual purchase orders, contract modifications and Environment Agency funding drawdown
  • Named haulage, survey, environmental and specialist plant subcontractors
  • Performance evidence supporting the 2028 extension decision

Related records 2

Reporting status

Project phase
Delivery
Evidence confidence
Confirmed
Last checked
14 October 2026
Cited sources
8

Sources and related records

Project changes Methodology Email a correction Project tracker
Source collections

Project sources 8