A village and more than 1,000 acres of land would be lost to the sea if plans laid out in a blueprint for tackling erosion in Suffolk are accepted.

The Environment Agency’s Shoreline Management Plan calls for the continued defence of major towns and villages from flooding and coastal erosion.

But it also says over the next 30 to 40 years the village of Covehithe will be surrendered to the sea. (more…)

Buy-to-let schemes for cliff-top houses and the potential relocation of businesses are among the ideas being put forward as part of a multi-million pound project to protect communities living around the Norfolk and Suffolk coast.

East of England minister Barbara Follett joined coastal councillors and environmental experts at the second Coastal Initiative Conference yesterday to find out about the projects which are being funded by nearly £5m of government grants.

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) awarded money at the end of last year to local authorities in North Norfolk, Great Yarmouth and Waveney to push forward with projects to find out how communities can adapt to the impacts of erosion and coastal change. (more…)

A DETAILED vision of how the north Suffolk coastline might change over the next 100 years seems poised to be rubber-stamped at top level.

Protecting popular beaches and shoring up defences around Lowestoft harbour are among the proposals being put forward in the finalised shoreline management plan (SMP) for the coast from Lowestoft to Felixstowe.

The final version has been drawn up after three months of public consultations last autumn and looks likely to be approved by environ-ment secretary Hilary Benn and Environment Agency regional top brass in the spring.

The plan looks at the risks of sea erosion and flooding and considers where defences need to be strengthened or where erosion should be allowed to continue over the next century. (more…)

Rare reconnaissance photographs of the 1953 floods which engulfed large parts of East Anglia have come to light.

The pictures were shot by the RAF and, until recently, some of them were classified.

Watch the video clip on the BBC News website

A successful multi million pound bid to solve major coastal problems in Norfolk and Suffolk was hailed by experts and campaigners last night as the most important step ever taken in the management of the coast.

And as three local authorities – North Norfolk, Waveney and Great Yarmouth – celebrated winning nearly £5m out of a national pot of £11m to address a range of challenges, officials in charge of managing the coast said the money would help individuals about to lose their homes to erosion, the two counties as a whole and also build future policies for the rest of the country in the face of climate change.

A small number of people teetering on the very edges of some cliff tops, including in the now internationally known erosion hotspot of Happisburgh, were for the first time guaranteed payments for the loss of their homes where they had previously faced walking away with nothing. (more…)

A Suffolk man has lodged an appeal against a court ruling that he needs planning permission for sea defences to protect his home.

Peter Boggis, 78, installed his own defences near his Easton Bavents home, but Natural England wanted the fossil-bearing cliffs to erode naturally.

In October, the Court of Appeal said Mr Boggis must apply for planning permission for the protection.

Now he has asked the Supreme Court if he can appeal against the ruling. (more…)

A retired engineer has been dealt a blow in his battle to prevent his home from falling into the North Sea after an appeal was upheld.

Conservation watchdog Natural England has today won an appeal against a court judgment to allow the cliffs below Peter Boggis’ home at Easton Bavents, near Southwold, to erode naturally.

Since 2002, the 78-year-old has spent tens of thousands of pounds installing his own “soft” sea defences built of 250,000 tonnes of compacted clay soil in front of the cliffs near his home. (more…)

PART of the seawall that spans the boundary of Corton and Hopton collapsed during the weekend.

This was not unexpected and occurred in a section where public access is already prohibited.

The collapse was anticipated and occurred over a part of the shoreline on the Waveney District and Great Yarmouth Borough Council borders, which is cordoned off by barriers and warning signs. (more…)

Campaigners fighting to protect a north Suffolk estuary are preparing to spend up to eight years repairing damaged river banks themselves now that plans for DIY flood defences have been given the green light.

The Environment Agency announced in 2007 that it could no longer justify large-scale investment to repair the defences around the Blyth Estuary, near Southwold, in the face of predicted rising sea levels.

It proposed a strategy of managed retreat, which would see the existing walls protecting land around Southwold, Walberswick, Reydon and Blythburgh, maintained for a maximum of 20 years, but with some sections allowed to breach much sooner. (more…)

An historic harbour wall that is in poor condition and has been slowly crumbling into the sea is set to get a rescue package.

Waveney District Councillors are being urged next week to adopt a policy to save Southwold Harbour North Quay Wall from further collapse.

Harbour users and council officers have already agreed urgent action needs to be taken to prevent the structure from becoming even more precarious but concerns were raised over where the money to fund the repairs would come from. (more…)