Fact Sheet: Types Of Coastal Space
FACT SHEET: TYPES OF COASTAL SPACE
What are the different types of space in the coastline or beach area?
There are several different parts to the area
commonly thought of as the coastline.
- Dry land runs to
the high tide line. For some technical and legal purposes
this line is calculated as “mean high water springs” – the
average line of a spring high tide.
- Sometimes the strip
of the dry land right by the high tide line is publicly
owned, either by the Crown or a local authority. These
strips of publicly owned land are what people mean when they
talk about the Queen’s Chain. They are often about 20 metres
wide.
- The area between the high and low tide line is
called the foreshore.
- Below the low tide line is the
seabed.
![](http://img.scoop.co.nz/stories/images/0308/b84bd17deb7ec39343eb.jpeg)
FIG 1. http://img.scoop.co.nz/stories/images/0308/b84bd17deb7ec39343eb.jpeg