Beaches & Dunes Restoration

View our Tyrella Phase 1 Information here, or read our summary below!

Lecale Conservation’s Cadogan Enright worked with Council staff for a ‘coctail’ of funding amounting to £55,000 for this project. At 1.5 kilometers the longest beach restoration in Ireland.  5 agreed paths were fenced though the dune system and all other rear areas protected. Access points re-enforced with Chestnut Palings. Posts, ropes and public information boards were used to protect the front edge of dunes from footfall or motorised vehicles. And over 10,000 locally grown native dune grass plugs were planted behind the fence. Grown from locally sourced charity True Harvest Seeds.  See pictures for success of this project.

View our Ballyhornan Phase 1 Information here, or read our summary below!

Uncontrolled access by quads and motorbikes had completely destroyed 300 meters of dunes on Ballyhornan Beach. Erosion was spreading to undercut the cliffs and threaten the coastal road into the village. Historically the original play area and car-park had been lost to the sea and the meadow used by visitors to enjoy the beach was now being undercut in the absense of dunes on the seaward side.

Phase 1 of the Ballyhornan Beach project was to re-grow the dunes and push the sea back away from the beach on the Western side of Ballyhornan beach. It was funded by a £25,000 grant from the Department of Environment to NGO’s Lecale Conservation and the Ballyhornan Village Development Association.

View our Kilclief Phase 1 Information here, or read our summary below!

The picnic area was falling into the sea and the car-park was nearly undermined by uncontrolled and undirected human footfall though the small dunes system. This was allied to excessive estates management by the local Council where weed spraying accellerated eroision. Our Dune Restoration Project leader Cadogan Enright was contacted for help and meetings were arranged with Council Management, Council Biodiversity Officer and a plan of action agreed for a project on a smaller scale to Ballyhornan beach but using the same principles.  Policy changes were agreed with Council on mowing, strimming and spraying in coastal areas.

Chestnut Paling fencing was used to create sand traps and prevent human ingress to sensitive areas. Fences were erect to direct traffic to one of two paths onto the beach. Volunteers from Kilclief residents, Lecale Conservation and a Belfast Scout group who ‘adopted’ the beach planted large numbers of plants grown by Kilclief eco-charity True Harvest Seeds.

View our Tyrella Phase 2 Information here, or read our summary below!

Lecale Conservation was awarded a £10,000 grant by the Department of Environment for phase 2  work on Tyrella Beach to repair 250 meters of dunes that had been destroyed by excessive and uncontrolled footfall near the old visitors centre. Work commenced after the demolishment of the centre including dune restoration, dune barrier fencing, and sand dune grasses planted.

A large number of volunteers were involved from True Harvest Seed, Lecale Conservation and Council bio diversity and geo-park staff.  

View our Kilclief Phase 2 Information here, or read our summary below!

Phase 2 was aimed at greatly extending the protected area of dunes and to create fencing with handrails to to assist less abled people to get down onto beach.  This follwed the success of ‘phase 1’ that had reversed erosion and protected the picnic and carpark falling into the sea.

Chestnut Paling fencing was used to create sand traps and prevent human ingress to sensitive areas. Fences were erect to direct traffic to one of two paths onto the beach. Volunteers from Kilclief residents, Lecale Conservation and a Belfast Scout group who ‘adopted’ the beach planted large numbers of plants grown by Kilclief eco-charity True Harvest Seeds. The phase 2 Beach restoration project won a Stormont environmental award. Read more here.

View our Ballyhornan Phase 2 Information here, our read our summary below!

Eighteen months after the success of phase 1 in restoring the protective veil of sand dunes on the Western side of Ballyhornan, Phase 2 was initiated for the Eastern side of Ballyhornan Beach.  Both sides of the dunes system been completely destroyed by uncontrolled access by quads and motorbikes.

NGO’s Lecale Conservation, Ballyhornan Village Development Association and True Harvest Seeds put together a coctail of funding from ‘Live here Love Here’ and serveral grants from NM&D Council’s Biodiversity grant scheme over 3 years to recreate the dunes system with fencing and 6500 dune grass plus planted by volunteers from residents associations in Downpatrick, Ardglass and volunteers from across County Down.

Lecale Conservation campaigned for thirteen years to get the Northern Ireland Ports Authority (NIPA) to take their duty seriously in stopping dumping from fishing boats, in particular on to the beach facing Ardglass Harbour, but also affecting all the beached along the Lecale coast with fishing rubbish. This involved many protests and meetings.

Since 2020, the situation has transformed with the new harbour master and team. Lecale member and local Councillor Cadogan Enright has praised the Harbour Authority. Read more here.

Renewed calls were being made by Lecale Conservation for Down Council to speed up the process of Passing Bye-Laws to protect shore-nesting birds and seal pups on Minerstown Beach after most of this years Golden Plover nests were crushed by quads. Read more here.

Local Lecale volunteers have been working with seal biologist Sue Wilson on devising methods whereby the local community, the Down District Council, Army Camp Authorities and the PSNI can cooperate together to preserve the important colonies of breeding seals at Ballykinlar. Read more here.