THE cost of coastal flooding in Suffolk and north Essex could run into billions of pounds, an insurance trade body has warned.

Climatologists predict sea levels on the east coast could rise by 40cms (15.75 inches) during the next 40 years, the Association of British Insurers said.

The financial impact on Lowestoft alone would be £550million, with more than 17,500 homes and commercial properties at risk of flooding.

Research shows that if there was a tidal surge in the Lowestoft area today 3,900 homes and commercial properties would be at risk. However by 2050 the rise in properties at risk would represent an 830 per cent increase.

They also warn of the impact this would have on tourism in the region and the disruption to transport and roads.

Although the association only examined the impact of flooding in the Lowestoft region, the impact further down the coast would be similar, especially in those areas already at risk.

A spokesman from the association said: “The majority of flooding by 2050 will be around north Essex, north Norfolk and parts of Suffolk.

“This is due to a combination of things – the fact it is mainly low lying and the rise in sea levels. Over the last decade the sea around the east coast has risen by 3cm.”

The Environment Agency recently caused uproar when it announced it could only afford to maintain defences on the river Blyth for the next five years and could only continue to protect Southwold harbour for 20 years.

At the moment the EA, who now have an overview on the coast, is in the middle of a public consultation on shoreline management in the east of England.

Rita Penman, media specialist, from the Anglian region of the agency said coastal defences are very much on the agenda.

“Our role is to protect people and properties from flooding within financial constraints,” she said.

“For example it wouldn’t be worth our while protecting a community from the sea made up of four houses. But even if we had a bottom less pit of money it wouldn’t always be worth building sea defences all around the coast. Some of the coastline is forever changing so we wouldn’t invest in an area where three months down the line we’d need to rebuild the defences.

“We are looking at sustaining the coast in the long term.”

Nationally the Association of British Insurers predict homes at risk of coastal flooding could soar by 40 percent, putting an additional 130,000 homes – from Hull to London on the east coast – at risk.

In light of this, the association has published a series of measures they would like to see included in the Government’s final Flood and Water Management Bill to ensure that flood insurance remains widely available to more than two million homeowners and businesses in areas that are known to be at risk.

Insurers have pledged to continue to provide cover to existing customers whose properties are at risk of flooding until 2013, as long as adequate flood management in its place.

The association have called on the Government to set targets and give the Environment Agency a statutory duty to reduce flood risk.

However the Environment Agency claim this is “unachievable” and say “it is not possible to protect everyone everywhere at all times from the risk of flooding”.

Story by Kate McGrath in the East Anglian Daily Times

The growing threat to Lowestoft’s coastal defences was laid bare last night after it emerged £2m must be found to carry out vital repairs along the main beach, while a nearby sea wall is in danger of collapse within weeks.

Sea defence managers are set to apply to the Environment Agency for the funding to carry out work on the town’s showpiece south beach, but have admitted defences at nearby Corton are falling apart and will have to be abandoned.

Meanwhile, a stretch of beach at North Denes has been closed where erosion has exposed the remnants of previous defences, which now pose a major danger to beach users.

With an annual sea defence budget of just £350,000, Waveney District Council is having to battle for national funding with coastal communities across the country.

The plan to seek £2m for work on the south beach, opposite Royal Green, was hatched because of the huge number of tourists it attracts and the number of businesses based there.

The council wants to carry out repairs to the foundations of the flint sea wall, built more than 100 years ago, and construct new groynes to help improve beach levels, which have been dramatically reduced in recent years.

However, just a few miles along the coast at Corton, council officers are preparing to put up barriers to stop people walking on the southern section of sea wall that runs northwards towards Hopton because erosion could see it collapse as soon as this winter.

The neighbouring timber breastwork, which protects the cliffs from Corton village to the Broadland Sands Holiday Park, is also falling apart and the decision has been taken not to invest any more in its maintenance.

Paul Patterson, who is in charge of sea defences in Waveney, said: “The northern part of Lowestoft south beach is suffering scour that has reduced the amenity value of the area and also placed at risk ageing defences that protect the promenade and tourist facilities from erosion.”

Work to improve the most vulnerable section of the wall took place last winter and a study is being carried out in preparation for the major project, which is scheduled to take place during the winter of 2009/10.

While the Kelling to Lowestoft Ness Shoreline Management Plan (SMP) says the defences along the south beach and North Denes should be maintained, it says there is no economic justification to carry on work at Corton.

Mr Patterson added: “The most significant erosion pressure is being felt from Lowestoft Ness northwards to the county boundary north of Corton village.”

The new barriers on the sea wall will have gates to allow public access to the wall until officers decide it is too dangerous.

Last year, the EDP reported how villagers in Corton felt abandoned by the SMP, which says new defences completed in 2005 at a cost of £3.5m will not be replaced when they reach the end of their lifespan in 20 to 30 years. Forecasts showed that 40 buildings could be lost on the seaward side of Corton Road and The Street by 2055 and, by 2105, a further 60 properties could be claimed by the sea.

While the state of some defences in Corton is critical, Waveney District Council is promoting a joint study with Great Yarmouth Borough Council to explore opportunities to manage crumbling defences.

Ken Sale, the council’s portfolio holder for the environment, said: “Tourism is the lifeblood of Waveney and Lowestoft beach is one of the best. As politicians all we can do is carry on lobbying the government to get more funding, but you can’t just put a concrete wall around the whole of the country.”

Story by Alasdair McGregor in the Eastern Daily Press