A £400,000 scheme to protect a vulnerable stretch of Suffolk coastline has finished ahead of schedule.

The second phase of the project at Thorpeness involved nearly 2,000 fabric bags filled with sand and shingle being used to strength the defences.

The defences at the northern end of the village are being reconstructed and strengthened after damage caused by storms in June last year.

The work was made possible by a partnership involving Suffolk Coastal District Council, the Environment Agency and local residents.

Andy Smith, deputy leader of the council, said: “It is great that the £400,000 second phase scheme has completed its main and hugely important task of repairing and strengthening the damaged existing defences, so reducing the immediate threat to local homes from coastal erosion.

“Most of the funding is from the Government via the Environment Agency, with the remainder coming from this council and most importantly local residents, as without their £137,000 commitment the scheme would not have got financial backing from the Government.

A total of 1,856 bags were needed – 200 fewer than estimated – and the work, carried out by J Breheny Contractors Ltd, finished two weeks ahead of schedule. There will now be additional repair work to the gabions which could extend into February.

The work involved bags being laid eight to 10 layers deep on more than one-and-a-half square miles of geo-fabric, creating a 600ft toe-shaped structure that will provide vital support to the existing rock- filled wire basket revetment.

Charles Beardall, area manager for the Environment Agency, said: “We are delighted that this important scheme is progressing well. The local community are to be commended for the vital part that they have played in making this scheme possible.”

Because the area is still a
construction site, the fencing will have to remain up over the Christmas period and closed to public access.

Story by Jonathan Barnes on the Coastal Scene website

Plans for the future management of the north Suffolk coast were approved by councillors last night.

Members of Waveney District Council’s cabinet met on Wednesday to formally adopt the county’s Shoreline Management Plan (SMP), which covers the stretch of coast between Lowestoft Ness and Felixstowe.

The SMP was provisionally approved by the cabinet last November and, following delays, it has since been approved by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), signed off by the Environment Agency, and adopted by Suffolk Coastal District Council last week.

As previously reported by The Journal, there is concern at Covehithe over the SMP’s recommendation that a policy of “no active intervention” is applied for the next century – effectively meaning that within 30 to 40 years the entire hamlet, including homes, an historic church and important conservation areas, will be lost.

Wrentham councillor Martin Parsons said: “Benacre is losing 17 acres of land every year and with the no active intervention policy this is in effect saying we will stop the landowner defending the coast. This is a huge ethical issue.”

Paul Patterson, Waveney’s senior coastal engineer, responded: “About 18 months ago there was a meeting requested from the Benacre Estate, but no submission of taking up this offer – so if they want to come to talk to officers we can help in this matter.”

Story by Mark Boggis in the Eastern Daily Press

Plans to tackle erosion and flooding along Suffolk’s coastline have taken a step closer to being fully approved.

Suffolk Coastal District Council’s cabinet backed the Shoreline Management Plan, which would run until 2105.

The proposals say it is too expensive to protect all 45 miles of the coast so areas including Covehithe and Benacre Broad will not be defended.

Waveney District Council is expected to provide the final sign off when its cabinet meets next Tuesday.

The review of the coastline between Lowestoft Ness and Landguard Point in Felixstowe began in 2007, with the plans finalised last year.

Sea defences at Lowestoft, Southwold and Felixstowe would be maintained and the main area of Kessingland, along with the A12, would be defended.

Erosion threat

About 1,000 acres (400 hectares) of land between Kessingland and Southwold would be left to the mercy of the sea.

Andy Smith, Conservative deputy leader of Suffolk Coastal District Council, said: “The key aspects are that virtually the entire populated part of the coast will be protected.”

Mr Smith said the future of Covehithe had proven controversial.

“The cliff is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, where it’s felt by Natural England particularly, that the cliff should not in the long term be held,” he said.

“The problem is that it’s another area that has continued to erode for many years and SSSI or not, you can’t look at every piece in isolation – you have to look at the jigsaw as a whole.

“That’s why we have a shoreline management plan, which I think is a positive move from everyone doing their own thing.”

‘Sense of injustice’

Suffolk Coastal MP Therese Coffey, Conservative, said a landowner at Covehithe had been told he could not fund sea defences for the village.

She said: “The landowner has been blocked from doing so on the pretext that they need his land to disappear in order to help save other places – that feels like a sense of injustice.

“Just because there are certain kinds of fossils in there, or something like that, I’m not sure that outweighs the farming that happens there.

“In 10 or 20 years’ time the Covehithe church will fall into the sea, and it seems a shame for that to happen if there is a scheme that can be funded by the landowner that could be trialled to make sure it doesn’t have a detrimental affect on Southwold.”

Community group Suffolk Coast Against Retreat is also concerned about Covehithe’s future.

Chairman Graham Henderson said the loss of the village would have a knock on effect to local habitats for birds including bitterns.

He said the plan is being challenged in the European courts.

“The challenge is based on the fact that to actually abandon sections of the Suffolk coast will mean that they will be allowing what are currently fresh water areas such as Eastern Broad and Benacre Broad to become saline,” said Mr Henderson.

“The European Habitats Directive states they must replace those fresh water habitats elsewhere in the country.

“It’s estimated that could cost £20m to replace those habitats.

“If it was spent on sea defence, they wouldn’t have to replace the habitat.”

Story on the BBC News website

A coastal defence scheme which could see the shape of Suffolk’s shoreline altered dramatically over the next century is set to be adopted by district leaders.

Plans to manage the 45 mile stretch between Lowestoft Ness and Languard Point in Felixstowe had been subject to opposition from inhabitants of communities denied investment for long-term defence against erosion.

Though flood risk would continue to be managed in all of the county’s main coastal towns and principal villages, areas with no proposed measures in place to slow erosion could be lost to the North Sea by as early as 2055.

Suffolk Coastal’s cabinet will be asked to formally adopt the Shoreline Management Plan (SMP) next Tuesday and implement a policy of “no active intervention” in smaller communities including Covehithe, a tiny hamlet just north of Southwold, where residents face the inevitable loss of homes, a 15th century church and conservation areas within the next 40 years unless sea defences can be funded independently.

The plan, prepared in association with Natural England by Suffolk Coastal, Waveney, British Energy and the Environment Agency, aims to reduce environmental risks to people and developed, historic and natural environments, but does not protect areas lacking significant conservation or landscape quality interest.

A blueprint was provisionally approved for adoption by Suffolk Coastal District Council (SCDC) in February 2010, and more recently by Waveney in November 2010, but needed to be proved environmentally sound to Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), which required evidence that no feasible alternative existed and that compensatory measures were secured.

Residents of Covehithe joined members of the Alde and Ore Association and SCAR (Suffolk Coast Against Retreat) in speaking out against the adoption and called for an alternative approach to defending Suffolk’s coast and tidal rivers.

Richard Steward, of the Blyth Estuary Group, meanwhile argued that any inland relocation would prove more costly to the Environment Agency’s coastal defence budget than preventatively protecting the whole of the coast from Southwold to Kessingland. He added that EU guidance declares abandonment and relocation “unlawful” unless for the overriding benefit of the public.

But Deputy Leader of Suffolk Coastal, Andy Smith said that, in the case of Covehithe, there was no viability for building expensive sea defences for such a small number of houses. However, he added that Waveney District Council was already looking into preferential planning solutions for residents. He added: “Defra and Natural England found no impediment and are content for us to adopt the plan.

“We will monitor and review the plan if circumstances make it necessary to do so.”

How Suffolk’s shores will be managed under the Shoreline Management Plan in the short (up to 2025), medium (2026-2055) and long (up to 2105) term:

Coastline defence protection will be maintained or upgraded throughout the next 100 years in Lowestoft. Pakefield will also be maintained or upgraded until 2105, when its coastline is set to be realigned. Kessingland village will also be maintained and upgraded Pakefield Cliffs will be abandoned, as will nearby Benacre Ness and Kessingland cliff.

The area between Benacre Broad and Easton Broad, in which lies Covehithe village, is not considered sustainable to attempt erosion management and will therefore be lost unless independently funded.

Southwold, and the area north of the town, will be subject to maintenance, upgrades and realignment, as will a stretch of the Blyth estuary between The Denes and Walberswick, excluding the upper estuary. Walberswick and Dunwich will also be protected or realigned.

Cliffs south of Dunwich, including Minsmere and Sizewell may be lost without long-term defence, but surrounding villages will continue to be protected.

It is hoped some properties between Thorpeness Haven and Aldeburgh will continue to be defended by the naturally-functioning shingle bank rather than man-made works which will be maintained or upgraded where required.

Since last February, more urgent works have been required in Thorpeness where a partnership between SCDC, local residents and the Environment Agency (EA) has enabled the repair and strengthening of damaged defences, reducing the immediate threat to homes from coastal erosion.

The emergency repairs began in October with 1,450 large geo-textile bags filled with sand and shingle being placed in front of the eroded cliff.

Sudbourne beach and Orford Ness will both be left to erode naturally, as will Orford beach, with realignment, maintenance and upgrades made going south as far as Bawdsey hill and cliffs which will be left. The coastline between Bawdsey Manor and Languard Point will continue to be managed and realigned where appropriate to maintain important flood defences.

Story by Tom Potter in the East Anglain Daily Times

Residents in Shotley have been praised for helping to raise more than £100,000 to protect their coastline.

The Shotley Stour Footpath Renovation Group worked with local councils, businesses and environment groups to arrange the coastal erosion defence.

The group also oversaw the renovation of a picnic area at Shotley Gate.

South Suffolk MP Tim Yeo, Conservative, said: “It’s a remarkable achievement for a place of this size to bring together so many organisations.”

Gary Richens, Shotley parish councillor and chairman of the Shotley Stour Footpath Renovation Group, said: “We put a tremendous amount of work into putting erosion protection to the whole of Shotley cliff.

“Three years ago we set up a community group to see how we could raise money for this.

Wildlife concerns

“We very quickly found that by working with the statutory organisations who have an interest down here – the Environment Agency, Suffolk Coast and Heaths, Haven Gateway Partnership, Hutchison Ports – when we got our heads together they were actually happy to come in and fund some of the work we were doing.

“It’s a very sensitive, ecological site.

“There is an RSPB reserve right on the edge of the cliff and we have to be mindful that whatever we do we don’t disturb those birds.”

Mr Yeo said the government would not have much money available to spend on coastal erosion projects in the next few years.

“My work in Parliament suggests the only solution is to engage local communities,” he said.

“Government is always much more willing to provide support when they see the community also pulling their weight – that way you can join funds from other bodies, but the main spring of this has to be the effort made by the local community.

“I’m sure this will be an inspiration for other communities who are faced with the threat of erosion, when they see what can be done by a group of really determined and energetic people.”

Story on the BBC News website

Power to decide how best to protect crumbling coastal land will be given to local communities, the chairman of the Environment Agency (EA) has pledged.

Lord Smith, who was the guest speaker at the annual general meeting of the Suffolk Coast Against Retreat (SCAR) group at the Jubilee Hall in Aldeburgh on Saturday, has, however, warned that people would need to need to come up with money and well as “imaginative” ideas as government budgets for flood defence projects are squeezed.

The former cabinet minister told landowners, local councillors and representatives of coastal groups that the EA was committed to cutting bureaucracy and enabling defence schemes – and he offered a personal pledge to investigate failings.

“The ‘we know best’ approach doesn’t wash these days,” he said. “There will be times when we don’t get it right, and if you experience that, then come to me.”

Lord Smith said that, as well as tightened budgets for flood defences and management, there was uncertainly over the details of a new Government formula for calculating project grants.

But he said there was still a national pot of £2.1bn for flood risk management and defences over the next four years and that the EA would “sit down with communities” and look at schemes on a case-by-case basis.

“I would like for us to be able to say ‘we have this amount of money we can put in the pot – if that’s the case, can you raise this much?’ I’d like there to be real clarity and to give real power to communities to make those decisions,” he said.

The peer answered questions about possible tax breaks for contributions to defence schemes and future insurance cover for flood-risk homes. He assured the group he was lobbying ministers to recognise the value of agricultural land that may be at risk of being lost to the sea.

After the meeting, Lord Smith said: “I was very conscious when I took up my position as chairman of the Environment Agency that the people of Suffolk feel very strongly about their history, their landscape and their livelihoods and I am determined – even more so after seeing the passion coming from this room – to come up with as much as we can to help them.

“We are committed to protecting as many properties and as much land as effectively and efficiently as we can. We need to identify the communities most at need, look at all the available resources and find imaginative solutions to funding.”

Story in the Eastern Daily Press

A stretch of Suffolk and Essex coastline could be transformed into grazing and sea marches as part of a managed way to tackle rising sea levels.

Plans put forward by the Environment Bank and Environment Agency would see businesses pay to offset their green impacts, with the funding used to manage coastal areas.

For the past four years, the Environment Bank has been refining a delivery model for the UK in consultation with central government, NGO’s, developers, landowners, farmers and local authorities.

Now the Shell Foundation has agreed to provide funding and internal expertise for the next year to allow a trial scheme to go-ahead.

It is understood, but not confirmed, that the Government will include some form of conservation credits in its Natural Environment White paper.

So this pilot scheme is, according to the Environment Bank, a chance to get ahead of the white paper which is due out later this spring.

The scheme will in effect create a new market mechanism to enable sea levels to rise in a managed way, with the current site serving as a pilot.

Environment Bank chairman, David Hill, said: “Creating markets for ecosystem goods and services should stop the environment being treated as a non-replenishing extractive industry.

“The model we have developed, together with the trading infrastructure we are constructing, will be capable of listing, registering and validating credits in respect of the full range of emerging markets for ecosystem services.”

Environment Agency area manager, Dr Charles Beardall, said: “We will support the Environment Bank in exploring this approach with the partnerships we have developed throughout our shoreline management plans locally.

“This is a good demonstration of private sector investment working alongside public bodies to create wider environmental, economic and societal benefits for coastal communities”.

Similar schemes exist in the US and Europe and estimates put the value of biodiversity markets globally at $10billion a year.

Story on the edie.net website

A cliff-top home near Southwold in Suffolk is being demolished due to the threat caused by coastal erosion.

The house in the hamlet of Easton Bavents was built in the 1930s and was originally about 260ft (80m) away from the edge of the cliff.

It is now just a few yards away from the edge and demolition work has begun.

Waveney District Council is piloting a government-funded scheme to fund the demolition and help residents affected by coastal erosion relocate.

David McGinnis, project officer of the Pathfinder scheme, said: “We’ve been working with the communities of Corton and Easton Bavents to try and find a way to adapt to the change that is inevitably coming.

“We’re about to roll out a rather intensive programme of consultancy to try and find a new site of relocation and to roll back the community of Easton Bavents.

“That’s going to go on for the next 10 months and hopefully we’ll come out with a package where we’ve got a site and we’ve successfully achieved outline planning permission for the owners to relocate to a new site.”

Mr McGinnis said trying to save the under-threat houses was not part of the project’s remit.

“Pathfinder was never set up about sea defence simply because the funding of that is too vast,” he said.

“In the current financial climate in this country we wouldn’t have the funding to undertake such huge civil work to protect the land.”

Story on the BBC website

Communities threatened by coastal erosion have been warned that they should expect to contribute towards protection schemes.

Speaking prior to next month’s Suffolk Coast Against Retreat (SCAR) annual general meeting (AGM), chairman Graham Henderson said that in the current financial climate it was unlikely the Government would completely fund defence work on behalf of homeowners, such as those living in Corton and Easton Bavents, near Southwold.

Mr Henderson, who lives at Felixstowe Ferry, said: “Overall I think it has been a progressive year. However we are still in a situation where the Government has not revealed all its cards and there’s no doubt that there’s going to be a shortage of money.

“In the future I think most – if not all schemes – will have to be tackled through joint venture funding. I don’t think we should expect the Government to be funding everything and I think they realise they can get communities to help – they not only have knowledge but they are also potentially a source of finance.

“We have to be realists, we all know about the finances of the country. Whether it’s a £10m scheme or a £50,000 scheme, we may have to look to local communities who might benefit for some of the money.”

The AGM is taking place at Jubilee Hall, Aldeburgh, on April 9, between 10am and 1pm. Guest speakers include Lord Smith, chairman of the Environment Agency, who is expected to talk about the impact of the new government on his organisation.

For more details visit www.suffolkcoastagainstretreat.co.uk.

Story in the Eastern Daily Press

A treasured family home at risk of crumbling into the sea is to be demolished before Mother Nature can take hold.

Sitting on the cliff edge at Easton Bavents, near Southwold, Thursley has been in the Thrawle family for four generations. While a groundbreaking policy recently approved by the local council gives hope to Suffolk homeowners facing coastal erosion, it comes too late for this isolated, two-storey building.

The house will be demolished on April 4.

Brother and sister Andrew Thrawle and Sally Mitchell, who have spent summers at the house since childhood, will watch as the bulldozers move in.

““It’s frightening to see just how much land has disappeared over the years,” said Mr Thrawle, a purchase manager who lives in Warwickshire.

“We were served with the demolition order by Waveney District Council two years ago, but that was stayed while we waited to see if more cliff to disappear.

“Now the cliff either side has now started to crumble and we’ve agreed with the demolition contractors that it’s time to go ahead.”

The house was built by an architect called Abercrombie in the 1930s. Named after the Surrey village he came from, the house was one of three – all prototypes for what would have become a sprawling estate, complete with tennis courts and swimming pool, had the Second World War not arrived.

When William Thrawle bought Thursley from the government in the 1940s it sat some 80 metres away from the cliff edge.

“Although it’s been a second home, it’s been a constant in our lives,” said Mr Thrawle, 47.

“I turned up there in a pram and have returned every summer with family or friends. It a great wrench for us to loose it.

“We have watched the cliff top disappear over time and we always knew the house would go. In some ways it’s been wonderful to have this extra time, but that doesn’t lessen the shock.”

The other two houses built by Abercrombie were demolished in the 1990s.

The £1.5m Pathfinder project, a government-funded scheme, was approved in January.

It sets down a land rights transfer policy which allows the people of Easton Bavents and nearby Corton to relocate to safe land and build similar properties under the same planning permission.

The relocation and replacement of homes is permitted as long as the dwelling is likely to be affected by erosion within the next 20 years.

As previously reported by the EDP, the England family, who own the Retreat not far from Thursley, were given early residential land transfer rights by Waveney – one of the first deals of its kind in the UK.

While father Paul lives in Southwold, brother and sister Charles and Beth, hope have a new property further inland by autumn.

Speaking this week Sue Allen, Easton Bavents councillor for Waveney, said: “It’s very sad to hear about Thursley. We all know erosion is happening, but I think it’s happening a lot quicker than people thought it would when they bought those houses years ago.

“The Pathfinder procedure is extremely important for the people of Easton Bavents.”

Story by Lauren Rogers in the Eastern Daily Press