Plans to tackle erosion and flooding along Suffolk’s coastline have taken a step closer to being fully approved.

Suffolk Coastal District Council’s cabinet backed the Shoreline Management Plan, which would run until 2105.

The proposals say it is too expensive to protect all 45 miles of the coast so areas including Covehithe and Benacre Broad will not be defended.

Waveney District Council is expected to provide the final sign off when its cabinet meets next Tuesday. (more…)

A coastal defence scheme which could see the shape of Suffolk’s shoreline altered dramatically over the next century is set to be adopted by district leaders.

Plans to manage the 45 mile stretch between Lowestoft Ness and Languard Point in Felixstowe had been subject to opposition from inhabitants of communities denied investment for long-term defence against erosion.

Though flood risk would continue to be managed in all of the county’s main coastal towns and principal villages, areas with no proposed measures in place to slow erosion could be lost to the North Sea by as early as 2055. (more…)

Power to decide how best to protect crumbling coastal land will be given to local communities, the chairman of the Environment Agency (EA) has pledged.

Lord Smith, who was the guest speaker at the annual general meeting of the Suffolk Coast Against Retreat (SCAR) group at the Jubilee Hall in Aldeburgh on Saturday, has, however, warned that people would need to need to come up with money and well as “imaginative” ideas as government budgets for flood defence projects are squeezed.

The former cabinet minister told landowners, local councillors and representatives of coastal groups that the EA was committed to cutting bureaucracy and enabling defence schemes – and he offered a personal pledge to investigate failings.

“The ‘we know best’ approach doesn’t wash these days,” he said. “There will be times when we don’t get it right, and if you experience that, then come to me.” (more…)

Communities threatened by coastal erosion have been warned that they should expect to contribute towards protection schemes.

Speaking prior to next month’s Suffolk Coast Against Retreat (SCAR) annual general meeting (AGM), chairman Graham Henderson said that in the current financial climate it was unlikely the Government would completely fund defence work on behalf of homeowners, such as those living in Corton and Easton Bavents, near Southwold.

Mr Henderson, who lives at Felixstowe Ferry, said: “Overall I think it has been a progressive year. However we are still in a situation where the Government has not revealed all its cards and there’s no doubt that there’s going to be a shortage of money. (more…)

A treasured family home at risk of crumbling into the sea is to be demolished before Mother Nature can take hold.

Sitting on the cliff edge at Easton Bavents, near Southwold, Thursley has been in the Thrawle family for four generations. While a groundbreaking policy recently approved by the local council gives hope to Suffolk homeowners facing coastal erosion, it comes too late for this isolated, two-storey building.

The house will be demolished on April 4. (more…)

People living in a coastal village are “desperate” for help before their homes crumble into the sea and they lose any legal right to relocation.

Two homes in Easton Bavents, north of Southwold, are just 6m from the cliff edge and the owners fear they are in likely danger of succumbing to the sea.

Last year, £1.5m of state funding was allocated to Waveney District Council to explore the options available to communities at risk from erosion and potentially relocate them, as part of the Pathfinder scheme.

But a decision could be too late for the homes closest to the edge and those living in them want Waveney to support their quest to relocate now.

Paul England, whose son owns one of the homes on the edge of the cliff, said that if the properties were lost to the sea before a decision was made, the owners would lose their residential land use rights and no longer be eligible for relocation. (more…)

A £1.5million project to help protect the Suffolk coast against the threat of erosion was last night branded a “talking shop” that will not provide the immediate action desperately needed.

The Suffolk Coastal Change Pathfinder Project has been set up with government funding to help villagers in Corton, near Lowestoft, and Easton Bavents, near Southwold, look at ways to adapt to the changing shoreline.

But last night campaigners said it did not go far enough to provide the practical solutions that were needed. (more…)

Coastal protection in the region may fall victim to deep public spending cuts, leaving people to repair their own defences, a former MP has warned.

John Gummer said that people with land and homes by the sea may need to “make do and mend” because multi-million-pound “Rolls Royce answers” would be put on the back-burner.

Mr Gummer, former MP for Suffolk Coastal and president of Suffolk Coast Against Retreat (Scar), said new local initiatives and alternative strategies such as tyre walls and using willow may have to be considered. (more…)

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…)