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…)

Campaigners battling to save flood defences protecting land around a north Suffolk estuary are putting the finishing touches to plans which could see them repairing and rebuilding the walls themselves.

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

GUIDELINES on how the government will try to tackle the problem of coastal erosion will be drawn up using knowledge from communities along the Norfolk and Suffolk coast, a minister said yesterday.

Huw Irranca-Davies, minister for the natural and marine environment, wildlife and rural affairs, visited the east coast yesterday to see local erosion problems first hand.

He was taken to Southwold, where he was shown the crumbling north dock wall at the harbour. In the past few months, large sections of concrete have fallen off the wall, which protects businesses and roads leading into Southwold from flooding. (more…)

AN MP has issued a renewed rallying call against plans to let miles of the Suffolk coast succumb to rising sea levels.

Not enough is known about the future effects of climate change to give up the fight to protect coastal communities, rallied John Gummer, MP for Suffolk Coastal and a former Environment Minister.

The MP told a packed meeting of Suffolk Coast Against Retreat (SCAR) that victories can be won in Suffolk, but only if the battle is not surrendered before it has even started. (more…)

An emergency meeting has been called after part of a wall protecting land and homes around an historic harbour breached.

A section of the wall at Southwold harbour – thought to be about 6ft wide – gave way earlier this week and it is feared that the rest of the structure could now be under threat unless immediate action is taken to repair it.

A team of divers will take to the water on Monday to survey the damage while councillors hold an emergency meeting to discuss what can be done to protect the future of the structure. (more…)

A SENIOR figure at a leading worldwide engineering organisation has told how it is “futile” to protect parts of the Suffolk coastline from the sea.

Dr Colin Brown said that he agreed with the Environment Agency’s (EA) policy to stop maintaining flood walls around Blythburgh, Southwold, Reydon and Walberswick. (more…)

Campaigners battling to save flood defences protecting land around a north Suffolk estuary were dealt a fresh blow yesterday as proposals to stop maintaining the mud banks were given the green light.

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

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

Yesterday, the Environment Agency’s (EA) Eastern Regional Flood Defence Committee agreed to send the final draft of the Blyth strategy to the agency’s National Review Group, which will complete the internal review process before any scheme is finally approved. (more…)

FLOOD defence campaigners trying to protect thousands of acres of land in north Suffolk have vowed to carry on fighting this year for permission to repair damaged banks.

The Blyth Estuary Group has been battling since early 2006 to repair flood walls in the estuary, near Southwold, after the Environment Agency announced that it plans to stop maintaining them over the next 20 years because the project is not be financially viable. (more…)

Communities were yesterday given the clearest indication yet by a government agency that they can build their own DIY sea and flood defences if no government money can be found to protect homes and land.

But the move was branded as “yet another cop out” in the management of the coast by a leading coastal campaigner.

The Environment Agency (EA) plans to stop maintaining defences around the Blyth estuary, near Southwold, over the next 20 years, which could leave thousands of acres of farmland, about 20 homes and the A12 Ipswich to Lowestoft road at increased risk of flooding. (more…)

THE senior official at the sharp end of protest over the Environment Agency’s plans to abandon some of the flood defences in Suffolk’s estuaries has moved to a new job overseeing the region’s response to the threat of inland and coastal flooding.

Dr Charles Beardall has moved from his job at Ipswich as the agency’s area manager, covering Suffolk, Norfolk and Essex, to become regional flood and coastal risk manager for the east of England, based in Peterborough.

It was also revealed yesterday that extra staff members are being drafted in to the agency’s Suffolk-based team to help deal with coastal issues, including engagement with a public which has proved hostile to plans for “managed retreat”. (more…)