Jubilee Green sea defences: how far Saltash’s works have got

The line of new rock now sitting along the water’s edge at Jubilee Green has a number attached to it. Sixty-five metres. That is how much protective rock armour has gone in since work started on 18 May 2026, and it is roughly the halfway point of a job designed to hold the shoreline in place for decades to come.

What has been done so far

Cormac, the contractor carrying out the scheme, has confirmed the 65-metre milestone as part of the latest project update shared by Saltash Town Council. The full stretch of new defence will run to about 140 metres once finished, so the work has passed the midway mark.

Attention has now moved into the Boat Park. Rock armour is being shifted from the slipway area and set down at the base of the newly installed defences. Beyond the completed 65-metre section, excavation has started to prepare the ground for the next phase of construction.

The scheme replaces an ageing revetment that protects the boat park, the open green space and the car park from coastal erosion along the Tamar Tavy Estuary. Routine inspections found the old structure to be deteriorating and in a failing condition, which is what prompted the replacement. In total the finished defence will use around 4,000 tonnes of rock armour, laid over a geotextile membrane with foundation stones underneath and interlocking armour rocks on top.

Parking and the slipway during the works

As the job has progressed, the amount of car park space taken up by the works has been reduced. A small number of spaces in the Old Ferry Road car park are still set aside for Cormac’s site welfare cabin. The Boat Park has four spaces available at the moment, down from the nine that were there before, and that reduction is temporary.

Boat launching can carry on throughout the works. It has to happen one at a time and in single file, so Cormac is asking anyone planning to use the slipway to allow a little extra time. That gives the crew room to give you safe access without stalling progress on site.

The bigger picture

The site sits within a Site of Special Scientific Interest Impact Risk Zone, and the design has been shaped around that. The new rock structure is meant to become a living shoreline over time, with the gaps and surfaces giving seaweed, algae and invertebrates somewhere to take hold. Work is running to a timetable of roughly 20 weeks, with completion expected by the end of October 2026.

Anyone wanting the detail can read the full project update on Cornwall Council’s Let’s Talk site. Questions for the contractor can go to [email protected] or 0300 1234 222.

Cormac’s message to slipway users was short. Allow a little extra time, and thanks for the patience while the work goes in.