King Charles III England Coast Path: Mersea Island
Find out about the progress of improving coastal access – including maps, process and timing – in Essex.
Map of the stretch
Natural England is working to improve coastal access along a 13.5 mile (21.6 km) stretch of the Essex coast around Mersea Island.
Officers from Essex County Council, the access authority, are providing Natural England with expert local advice during the establishment of the route.
Stage of progress
Stage 5: Open (not yet available for public use - work to establish the route is currently taking place)
On 16 July 2024 the Secretary of State announced their decision to approve a stretch of the King Charles III England Coast Path in Essex around Mersea Island.
Natural England’s proposals are still available to view.
The Secretary of State’s determination relates to the entire stretch, and also takes into account modification report, MR 1, which affects a section of Chapter 3, Anglian Water Sewage Works to Mersea Stone, Mersea Island.
Changes to the proposed route between Mersea Outdoors and Coopers Beach Holiday Park, Mersea Island (MR1)
On 25 May 2022, Natural England submitted a modification report to the Secretary of State setting out revised proposals for the route of the England Coast Path in Essex between Mersea Outdoors and Coopers Beach Holiday Park, Mersea Island.
This change is necessary because further erosion to a stretch of sea wall has caused the original route (proposed in 2017) to become increasingly affected by tidal flow.
Natural England will publish further details of the approved route in due course.
Next steps
Work is now underway to prepare the new stretch of coast path for public use. The first step is to contact owners and occupiers of the affected land to discuss the design and location of any new infrastructure which is needed, such as signs and gates.
When preparations are complete, new access rights will come into force along the route and adjoining spreading room.
For further advice and information see the links that follow.
Find out more about the England Coast Path
See information about all stretches in preparation around England’s coast.
The coastal access scheme gives details of the process being followed to improve access to the coast.
Contact the coastal access team
Contact Natural England if you have any queries relating to the establishment of this stretch.
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 0300 060 3900
Post:
Coastal Access Team
Natural England
Eastbrook
Shaftesbury Road
Cambridge
CB2 8DR
See the map that follows for information about progress on improving coastal access in other parts of Essex.
Updates to this page
Published 9 October 2015Last updated 16 July 2024 + show all updates
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Page updated to show Natural England's proposals, and Modification Report 1 have been approved.
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Page updated with information about the modification report MR1.
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Removed the sentence giving a date for when access is expected to be ready.
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Date amended: access expected to be ready in 2020.
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Page updated to show this stretch is now at stage 4.
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Updated page to show that work on this stretch has reached stages 2 and 3.
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First published.