A new short film- ‘Saundersfoot - Adapting Together‘ - launched today by Pembrokeshire Coastal Forum (PCF), tells the story of how one Pembrokeshire harbour village is coming together to prepare for a changing coast, and how partners from the local community council through to national organisations are working side by side to support it.
Told largely in the words of local people, including community councillors, fishermen and residents, the film follows Saundersfoot as the first community to put the Pembrokeshire Climate Adaptation Toolkit into practice.
The free online Toolkit, developed by PCF and launched in 2025, was endorsed as a United Nations Ocean Decade Activity in November 2025.
Like many coastal communities, Saundersfoot is already experiencing the effects of a changing climate, from stormier seas and localised flooding to pressure on the coast path between Saundersfoot, Coppet Hall, Wisemans Bridge and Amroth.
Tom Luddington of Pembrokeshire Coastal Forum said: “Saundersfoot has always lived with the sea. The people that know this coast the best are already feeling the changes, and many people within the community know where it floods, and they know who is most vulnerable. Adaptation has to start by listening to them.”
The work in Saundersfoot has been made possible through close collaboration between Saundersfoot Community Council, Pembrokeshire County Council (PCC), Natural Resources Wales (NRW), Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority (PCNPA) and WWF Cymru’s Wholescapes programme, alongside Saundersfoot Harbour Authority, Hean Castle Estate, The Crown Estate, Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service, local businesses and residents.
A Saundersfoot Climate Adaptation Working Group, facilitated by PCF, brought these partners around one table. Together, Saundersfoot Community Council, Pembrokeshire County Council, NRW and PCF have shaped an independent coastal scoping study brief to be undertaken by expert consultants to give the community clear, evidence-based information about future options for the seafront.
In parallel, a community Contingency Planning Group led by Cllr Tony Wall is working with NRW and the Council’s emergency planning team to strengthen local preparedness, including forming an emergency volunteer group.
The approach is designed to complement the statutory roles of Pembrokeshire County Council and NRW in managing flood and coastal erosion risk, including the Council’s Sustainable Coastal Communities initiative, by helping residents understand the evidence and take an active part in how their community adapts.
Alec Cormack, Chair of Saundersfoot Community Council, said: “One of the benefits of being a community council is that we’re very close to the people who live here. So many of the actions that are needed really involve the community coming together and deciding what it will back. We are working with experts to look at what’s possible, and we will then discuss that with the community in public meetings.”
County Councillor for the seaside village’s south Ward, Cllr Chris Williams added: “The Pembrokeshire Coastal Forum has definitely brought the community together. There’s a lot of work to do with organisations and key partners, but it’s got to be driven by the community.”
At the heart of the film is a simple idea: climate adaptation works best when it is built on trust, and when everyone has a way in. Learning has gone both ways, with the community hearing about future risks and partners learning from local knowledge.
PCF and partners have used a range of creative methods to reach different parts of the community:
- Fishermen and harbour users mapped risks to their livelihoods on large-format aerial photographs of the harbour, sharing first-hand experience of rougher seas, damaged gear and shorter seasons.
- Pupils at Saundersfoot School explored deep time and future change with storyteller Phil Okwedy, and wrote ‘Postcards from the Future’ imagining a resilient Saundersfoot.
- The Saundersfoot Youth Group helped shape how young people want to take part in climate conversations.
- The wider community came together at ‘Our Changing Coast’, a public event at Regency Hall featuring geologist Sid Howells and storytelling developed with PCNPA, attended by 55 residents, businesses and councillors.
Natalie Muirhead Davies, Marine Advisor at Natural Resources Wales, said: “I’m really hopeful for the future of Saundersfoot. Meetings like this are fantastic, and I really hope that this can be used as a blueprint for other places, not just along the Pembrokeshire coast.”
Jess McQuade WWF said: “Communities like Saundersfoot are already living with the effects of a changing climate. This work stands out because it starts with people, building the trust needed for adaptation that works for both people and nature.
“We’re proud to have funded this film as part of our Pembrokeshire Wholescape programme and hope it inspires other communities across Pembrokeshire and Wales to use the Pembrokeshire Climate Adaptation Toolkit.”
The Saundersfoot work delivers directly on the Pembrokeshire Climate Adaptation Strategy, co-created in 2022 with 39 organisations and adopted within the Pembrokeshire Public Services Board’s Well-being Plan, which calls for community adaptation groups to be supported in at-risk places before a crisis point is reached.
It puts into practice the five ways of working set out in the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act – thinking long-term, prevention, integration, collaboration and, above all, involvement – and reflects the emphasis in the Welsh Government’s Climate Adaptation Strategy for Wales on supporting communities to understand and prepare for climate risks.
The project has also been featured as a best-practice case study in the National Infrastructure Commission for Wales report A Perfect Storm.
Cllr Tony Wall said: “All the communities that have got similar issues to what we’ve got can look forward to achieving their goals - starting the ball rolling now and looking for the advice they need. If they start this now, then certainly we can look forward to a better future.”
Communities across Pembrokeshire and Wales who would like to follow the same process are warmly encouraged to visit the Pembrokeshire Climate Adaptation Toolkit at www.pembrokeshirecoastalforum.org.uk/climate-adaptation-toolkit, where they will find free resources to learn about local climate risks, take community action and connect with support.
For questions or support, contact Pembrokeshire Coastal Forum at [email protected]
Pembrokeshire Coastal Forum would like to thank the Welsh Government Welsh Marine and Fisheries Scheme for funding the climate adaptation engagement work in Saundersfoot, and WWF Cymru for funding the film. PCF also thanks the people of Saundersfoot and all partners for their time, openness and commitment.
Watch the full video of ‘Saundersfoot – Adapting Together’ at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoBmMlHpViw
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