Surf's up

An ambitious project to build Europe's first surfing reef is taking place on England's south coast after nine years of planning, negotiation, and delays. Anthony Lewis finds out how the project in navigating troubled waters to put Bournemouth on the surfing map.

Bournemouth may be known more for its family seaside attractions than as a surfing mecca, but that is set to change in 2009. Having learned to surf there as a student in the mid nineties I can vouch for the fact that Bournemouth does get waves, occasionally very good waves. Now the Boscombe area of the towns coastline will be the site of the first surfing reef in Europe, resulting in a dramatic transformation of the UKs surfing map.

Surfing reefs

The majority of surfing waves in the UK are beach breaks where waves break over gently sloping sand, where the area in which waves break is often unpredictable, in big swells waves break all at once, and in small swells they break so close to the beach that they are unrideable.

The majority of the worlds most famous waves are reef breaks, where swells that have travelled for thousands of miles across oceans hit submerged rock or coral reefs at an angle, and break suddenly, predictably, and spectacularly. While Bournemouth will not rival some of the worlds best surfing reefs, like Uluwatu in Indonesia, or Pipeline in Hawaii, a reef designed to maximise wave size and characteristics would dramatically improve surfing in the area.

Artificial surfing reefs may sound like an old idea, but there have been only a few built in the world so far: Narrowneck in Queensland and Cables on Western Australia, Mount Reef in New Zealand, Prattes reef in California, and now Bournemouth.

Stakeholder management

The idea for a surfing reef in the Bournemouth Bay was first floated in 1999 by David Weight, who introduced the local council to the concept. After several workshops with local politicians and stakeholders, there was enough political appetite for the idea for the council to fund a feasibility study, which highlighted two potential sites for the reef: Boscombe and nearby Southbourne. A proposal to include a refurbishment of the Boscombe Pier, and regeneration of the local area through residential, leisure, and catering developments, in addition to the reef was approved by the council in 2003. Roger Brown, Bournemouth Councils director of Leisure services, and the chair of the project board since its inception, outlined the feeling at that point: We thought that we were near the end, but wed only just begun.

From the outset, the project had innumerable stakeholders:

• Crown Estates (responsible for granting the license to site the reef on the seabed);
• European External Policy Advisors (EEPA responsible for advising on EU environmental approval);
• The department for the Environment (who needed to be satisfied that the reef would not exacerbate coastal erosion);
• Local hoteliers and residents (concerned that the reef would mean an influx of impoverished surfers, and many of whom were sceptical that it would ever happen);
• The councillors themselves (with the situation complicated after political control of the council changed during the project);
• And of course the local surfers, who couldnt quite believe that Bournemouth might have one of the best waves in Europe.

The project team had to develop plans to manage the expectations of each of these stakeholder groups, and in many cases, create and agree methodologies to measure and report of the reefs impact.

Transformation and innovation are two terms that rendered meaningless by overuse in relation to projects, but the Boscombe project is both. Roger Brown takes up the story: Every organisation that we approached had to start from scratch: Theyd never done this before. In each case we were making new policy. Its taken far, far, longer than we could have ever imagined to bring this project to fruition.

The project isnt all about surfing however: the reef gets all the press, but in financial terms, its a small part of the overall regeneration project. The refurbishment of the pier cost more than the construction of the reef will. Weve managed to do some amazing things by viewing the whole of the area, and thinking what could we do?

Its clear that with an ambitious and talented team, and tireless commitment, the project has already had a dramatic effect on an area that has been in steady decline for decades. Award-winning beach huts have been designed by Wayne Hemmingway, the dilapidated Victorian bathing stations have been transformed, a large residential development has been completed, and a large suite of land based leisure and restaurants are in the final stages of construction, and the pier, which became listed during the construction process, has been completely refurbished.

The area has already been transformed from the tired and dilapidated sea front that I remember from my student days. The reef notwithstanding, it is impressive that such an ambitious development programme can be achieved for less than 10m (entirely funded by the housing development), when construction projects deliver a fraction of the amenity value for 10 times the cost, and it is a tribute to the commitment, ownership, and talent to the large and multidisciplinary project team.

(Above: Regenerated - Boscombe pier)

The longest journey

After the time it took to get all the necessary approvals in place, we wanted to de risk the construction of the reef as much as we could, says Bournemouth Councils Roger Brown. We travelled to Australia and New Zealand to see the construction of the reefs there, and after wed seen that ASR (the company that had designed Boscombes reef and several others) had formed their own construction arm to ensure that the Mount reef in New Zealand was constructed as planned after numerous issues with the existing firm, there was only one choice for the construction of the reef.

Wed planned that ASR would be on site at the start of the summer, but by the time that wed signed contract, and the team had been mobilised and arrived in the UK with all work permits in place, it was nearing the end of the summer. They were up against it from the start, and with the awful summer we had, it was never looking hopeful that it would be finished as planned, he admits.

Shortly before going to press, construction firm ASR confirmed that the reef would not be completed by December 2008, and that the crew would return to New Zealand, returning to finish the reef in the British Spring.

To say its disappointing would be rather an understatement, says Roger, but the surfing groups in particular were concerned that we get it right and delay, rather than completed, and wrong.

In terms of the overall project however, the reef has led to an enormous amount of media and public interest, and this has contributed to the feel-good factor of the scheme as a whole: the residential development has been very successful, even in the current market, and all the catering and land-based leisure contracts are signed. Its been a long road, but the benefits case for the project, from improved coastal protection, and increased bio-diversity, to the jobs that have been generated, and the increased recognition and visitor numbers to the town, makes all the effort worthwhile.

He concludes: Its been by far the most challenging project that Ive ever been involved in, and to see it realised is really very special. I was recently sent a photograph of the reef on a very low tide, and in it is a small, perfect wave breaking over the base layer. The picture shows that the reef works, even with just the base layer complete. It was a good moment.

• Anthony Lewis is an experienced project manager, specialising in the delivery of technology-enabled business change and transformation projects. Anthony is managing consultant at End to End consulting, a firm he set up in 2007 following eight years managing technology and business transformation projects in the invest banking and local government sectors.