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…)

Brandon Lewis, the Conservative prospective Parliamentary candidate for Yarmouth, has recruited MP John Gummer in the battle to highlight the coastal erosion problems facing Scratby, Hemsby and Winterton.

As a member of the cross party Parliamentary group looking at coastal erosion, Mr Gummer was able to gain valuable information on the issue and how it affects Yarmouth during a visit to the area.

Mr Lewis was joined by coastal erosion campaigners from the villages in making the case to Mr Gummer for investment to hold the line on this part of the coast. (more…)

AREAS of the Suffolk coast will not be abandoned “unless it is absolutely necessary”, the chairman of the Environment Agency said yesterday as he held a series of meetings with groups concerned at plans to stop maintaining some of the estuary defences.

Lord Smith, who was flown by helicopter up the coast from Bawdsey to Easton Bavents, said he wanted the agency to work with local communities to identify the best solutions and find funding from a variety of possible sources.

“We want to make sure we protect as much as possible. We need to agree solutions for each individual estuary. I certainly don’t want to abandon anything unless we absolutely have to,” he said. (more…)

At a packed public meeting in Hickling last night, the former Environment Secretary and Chairman of the David Cameron’s Quality of Life Commission, John Gummer MP, called for the Government to abandon its policy of managed retreat and to return to what he called a policy of, “what we have we hold.”

Mr Gummer, who was visiting North Norfolk at the request of the Conservative Spokesman for the area, Trevor Ivory, said, “It is a scandal that with all the resources and technology that are available to us today, our Government is telling us that we can no longer defend land that has been defended for centuries. It is an insult to those previous generations who had less, but still made sacrifices to defend out coastline.”

“But what is even worse is that we are leaving future generations to pick up the bill, because wherever we draw the line, we will have to defend our coast at some point. By failing to fund coastal defences now, what we are really saying is that we are going to leave it to our children and grandchildren to pay later.” Mr Gummer added.

Read the full article by Trevor Ivory on www.trevorivory.com

THE Environment Agency has been met with strong opposition from residents over its plans to push ahead with a policy of “managed retreat” on the Blyth Estuary.

The Environment Agency has confirmed its plans to abandon huge swathes of the Suffolk coast to the sea – despite massive criticism of the plans.

Suffolk County Council has responded by launching a £1.6m bid to heighten a stretch of the A12 at Blythburgh to stop the key link road between Ipswich and Lowestoft flooding.

John Gummer, Suffolk Coastal MP and a former Secretary of State for the Environment, said the EA’s decision is a disgrace. (more…)

Groups fighting plans to abandon coastal areas to the waves have resolved to work together to convince the government to drop the controversial proposals.

Councillors from across Suffolk and Norfolk coastal areas and from all levels of local government met for a conference in Southwold today. Also among more than 100 delegates were coastal pressure groups, Natural England, Suffolk Coastal MP John Gummer and Euro MP Geoffrey Van Orden.

They were united in wanting to stop the Environment Agency’s policy of “managed retreat”, or letting nature take its course as sea levels rise and coastal erosion continues. The conference focused on the Blyth estuary, one of the areas which will be most affected by the policy, but also heard of concerns elsewhere on the Suffolk coast and in Norfolk. Delegates decided that co-operation and communication were the key to persuading government to drop the plans and instead invest in flood defences. (more…)

A SENIOR Government minister has admitted plans to abandon sea and river defences along parts of the Suffolk coast might not go ahead unless the policy has the full support of people whose homes and businesses would be affected.

East of England minister Barbara Follett promised to take back to Whitehall the message that allowing the sea to flood hundreds of acres of the county, including the Blyth Estuary, would have a major impact on the character of the area of outstanding natural beauty, its wildlife habitats and the public’s access to them.

Mrs Follett joined leaders of Suffolk’s coastal local authorities and MP John Gummer to look at the £10million flood defence work being carried out at south Felixstowe and to hear concerns about the Environment Agency’s plans for the rest of the coastline. (more…)