LARGE numbers of homes and businesses on the Suffolk coast around Aldeburgh and Orford could be lost if the Environment Agency decides to abandon sea and river defences, campaigners have warned.

The Alde and Ore Association has issued a rallying cry to residents, businesses and tourists in the Aldeburgh and Orford area, warning the future of the land is under threat.

The Environment Agency is set to reveal its strategy for the area within the next six months – but the association fears it may follow the highly controversial proposals for the Blyth estuary.

There, the agency wants to stop repairing the flood walls which protect land and property around Blythburgh, Southwold, Reydon and Walberswick, because national funding is not available.

David Andren, Alde and Ore Association chairman, said: “Unless our coastal and river defences are maintained, hundreds of businesses in towns surrounding the Alde and Ore estuary will be put at risk.

“If there is a breach in the sea defences south of Slaughden this will almost certainly lead to breaches in our river defences, notably the walls protecting the Aldeburgh marshes.”

There is concern that in the future, the sea and river walls in the Aldeburgh area could be left to deteriorate and ultimately be breached.

Under threat could be the High Street, home to shops, houses, flats, hotels, the Moot Hall, and bed and breakfast houses.

Jimmy Robinson, mayor of Aldeburgh, warned: ”It is a devastating thought that nothing might be done and we do not want Aldeburgh or any part of it to be taken over by the sea or the river.

”We would like to have the sea and river walls maintained to the same standard or better than they are at the moment.”

Rosie Clarke, county councillor for Orford, said: ”There is concern that the low lying land around here will go if there is managed retreat – we have got to fight for what we have already got.”

The Environment Agency said it hoped to announce a preferred option within six months.

A spokesman said: ”It is only natural that people will be concerned about the outcome, but we are investigating how to manage this estuary and piece of coastline to take account of sea level rises.”

The Alde and Ore Association says if defences are abandoned there could be a breach between the sea and river at Slaughden, leading to an increase in volume and speed of tidal flows in rivers.

Most properties below five metres would be vulnerable to tidal surges, there could be extensive flooding of most marshlands and the loss of many saltings and habitats.

Government policy, says the association, is based on current estimates that in 100 years sea levels will have risen so much that it would be uneconomic to defend large areas of the Suffolk coast.

”The real threat to the coastal lands for the immediate future is not a change in sea level but tidal surges breaching current and inadequately maintained defences.

”We believe the appropriate policy would therefore be to ensure that the current sea and river defences are properly maintained, at least for the medium term (20-30 years) to the standard laid down following the 1953 floors,” says the association.

River walls withstood the surge in November 2007 and the association says the walls are of sound construction and regular maintenance would ensure the area remained safe.

It estimates the economic value of the Alde and Ore estuary is at least £25million annually. This excludes the value of crops and the gross output of £7m of 10 key employers.

”At peak times the Lower Alde area can account for up to 50% of the nation’s potato production. The loss of jobs in the agricultural industry if farmland surrounding the Alde and Ore were lost and salinated would have a major effect on local employment,” adds the Association.

At a recent meeting of the Eastern Area Regional Flood Defence Committee, the Environment Agency was asked to reconsider its Blyth estuary strategy.

It also said it would continue to work closely with local groups and authorities to use local funding to repair and maintain the flood defences.

Story by Richard Smith in the East Anglian Daily Times