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…)

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…)

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…)