About the forum

The Forum Management Board is responsible for setting the overall direction for the work of the Forum, taking decisions about the work programme, priorities, progress, challenges and opportunities.

The Board is composed of a number of partners with a wide range of interests along the coast, from tourism to nature conservation. It has an independent chair who is elected on a biennial basis by members of the Board.

The Chair for the 2 years April 2009 to March 2011, elected in January 2009, is Graham Lymbery. Graham graduated from Liverpool University with a degree in Civil Engineering and a Masters in Civil and Environmental Engineering. Since this time he has worked for Sefton Council and for the last 16 years has worked on the Sefton coast. Although his job is based in Sefton he has gained experience at both a regional and European scale, chairing the North West and North Wales Coastal Group and participating in a number of European projects.

On being appointed as Chairman, Graham said

"Having worked on the coast for the last sixteen years if there is one thing that I have learnt it is just how complex the coast is both in terms of natural processes and the management of the variety of demands placed on it by humans. For some this may seem like a good reason not to work on the coast, I think it just makes it a more interesting and exciting place to work.

This complexity does however make the management of the coast a challenging process and it is through Partnerships such as the North West Coastal Forum that we can seek to reduce this complexity by encouraging sharing of knowledge, discussion and shared solutions to problems. Given my background as a coastal engineer I am very aware of the need for long term planning and as such I will be keen to support the ongoing work that the Forum is undertaking in this area and in particular the evolving area of planning for adaptation to climate change."

The terms of reference and working principles for the management board can be

viewed here

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Schedule and locations of future meetings: