Poorly-paid jobs, run-down towns and the increasing threat of rising sea levels will cause major problems for communities around the Norfolk and Suffolk Coast if solutions cannot be found quickly, environment chiefs said last night.

The East of England Coastal Initiative, which is billed as the first programme to bring together government officials, local councils, voluntary groups and businesses to tackle coastal problems, was launched in Lowestoft yesterday.

The project will allow the groups to work together, access more funding and provide better solutions to problems including employment, deprivation, erosion and flooding. (more…)

The huge challenges facing the region’s coastal communities will come under the spotlight today when a major new initiative is mapped out.

Delegates at a conference in Lowestoft will focus on the East of England Coastal Initiative launched to address issues such as erosion, deprivation and unemployment.

The initiative is billed as the first of its kind in the country and brings together government officials, local councils, voluntary groups and the business sector in a bid to formulate a new strategy to tackle a wide range of economic and social problems. (more…)