People living in a coastal village are “desperate” for help before their homes crumble into the sea and they lose any legal right to relocation.

Two homes in Easton Bavents, north of Southwold, are just 6m from the cliff edge and the owners fear they are in likely danger of succumbing to the sea.

Last year, £1.5m of state funding was allocated to Waveney District Council to explore the options available to communities at risk from erosion and potentially relocate them, as part of the Pathfinder scheme.

But a decision could be too late for the homes closest to the edge and those living in them want Waveney to support their quest to relocate now.

Paul England, whose son owns one of the homes on the edge of the cliff, said that if the properties were lost to the sea before a decision was made, the owners would lose their residential land use rights and no longer be eligible for relocation.

“There is no ‘risk’ to erosion here, it is a certainty,” said Mr England, from Southwold.

“We want to either have them [Waveney] agree that our land use is retained if the properties are eroded, or, if that isn’t possible, then we want their assistance in making immediate planning applications to relocate.

“We really are desperate for a quick response from Waveney on this issue.”

The two properties that are currently a few paces from the cliff edge are The Retreat, owned by Charlie and Beth England, and Thursley, owned by Sally Mitchell and her brother Andrew Thrale.

Speaking on behalf of these two homes, Mr England said they wanted Waveney to put the put the land use rights in some form of escrow.

Mr England said that Local Development Framework (LDF) policies also allowed for the “at risk” Easton Bavents homes to be relocated, but this would not be finalised until early 2011.

He said that, in any case, this required the whole community to be involved in the relocation, but some houses were still up to 20 years away from needing to move.

“We want to adapt and go somewhere else, but we can’t because the bureaucracy is slowing us up,” added Mr England.

A written response to councillors from Ken Sale, portfolio holder for the greenest county, said that the council was seeking legal advice over creating an escrow and the issue should be taken forward via the Pathfinder scheme.

A council spokesman said: “We are listening to a range of questions from affected communities and, understandably, the answers provided to them need to be detailed and comprehensive.

“We are seeking the advice of a barrister with considerable experience in this field to ensure that those concerned get the right advice as quickly as possible and we will continue to assist them in whichever way we can.”

In recent years, soft sea defences created by Peter Boggis, who also lives at Easton Bavents, halted the erosion of the cliffs.

But judges ruled that the site should erode naturally and the defences have now washed away. Since 1936, about a mile of land has been lost in front of the village.

The Pathfinder scheme was announced in December last year and 15 grants were given out nationally, with £3m going to North Norfolk Council.

The money allocated to Waveney was to be used working with people in Easton Bavents and Corton, to explore and deliver practical solutions to the impacts of Suffolk’s coastline.

Grants have to be used or allocated by March next year.

A statement from Suffolk Coast Against Retreat (SCAR), a group set up to preserve and protect the coastline, said: “While we are pleased to hear that Waveney is taking barrister’s advice concerning the ‘escrow’ possibility on the properties nearly in the sea at Easton Bavents, we cannot enforce the pontificating of the council when they have it in their own hands to make a decision now.”

Story by Amy Gray in the Advertiser 24