FEARS have been raised that a sea wall and even a road could collapse because of dredging work being carried out.

Don Barker, of Harbour Crescent, Harwich, used to work as a coastal protection worker for Tendring Council. About 20 years ago he helped remove roughly a 400-yard stretch of groynes between the end of Barrack Lane, Dovercourt, and a ramp on Harwich beach. The area was due to be regroyned and recharged with sand, but Mr Barker said this never happened. Now he fears if something is not done, the road he lives in could fall victim to the sea. (more…)

Plans to extend dredging off the East Anglian coast could accelerate coastal erosion and even endanger banks protecting Sizewell nuclear power station, it was claimed yesterday.

Concerned residents and coastal campaigners who attended a public meeting about the latest dredging proposals also voiced fears that gravel extraction was already decimating fishing stocks by destroying spawning grounds.

The newly-formed Anglian Offshore Dredging Association of dredging companies held a series of presentations at Yarmouth racecourse to outline its plans. (more…)

Tens of thousands of tonnes of sea defence rock will be shipped to Norfolk’s coast by barge in the run up to Christmas, while a sister operation pumps huge quantities of sand from the seabed to build up the beaches.

The multi-million pound project will beef up and repair both the soft and hard defences around Waxham, Horsey, Winterton, Sea Palling and Eccles as contractors Team Van Oord carry out the work on behalf of the Environment Agency. (more…)

CAMPAIGNERS fighting to protect the county’s coastline from the ravages of the sea said last night that plans to vastly increase the dredging zone off Southwold could dramatically “speed up” erosion.

Marine aggregate companies want to dredge an area of seabed off the coast which campaigners claim would be 10 times the size of the current dredging zone being worked. (more…)

Van Oord has been awarded two projects on the east coast of England by the UK Environment Agency.

The first is the Happisburgh to Winterton Sea Defence Project which is worth approximately Euros 9 million. This is a continuation of work previously undertaken by Van Oord at this location. the new work will start in September 2008 and is scheduled for completion in December 2008. (more…)

A government spending watchdog is to look into the effects of offshore dredging on the East Anglian coast.

And a Norfolk MP says he will ask the National Audit Office, which oversees spending by government departments, to hold a full investigation into the issue.

Environmental pressure group Marinet, part of Friends of the Earth, has asked the office to investigate whether it is cost-effective to dredge sand and gravel for sea defences when the dredging itself may be contributing to erosion. (more…)