PLANS to stop flooding at a problem spot on the A12 between Ipswich and Lowestoft have been boosted by a Government minister.

Suffolk County Council is looking to alleviate flooding on the main road at Blythburgh, where the road meets the River Blyth, and is proposing to install a sluice to manage tidal flow in the area.

The road is liable to flooding during heavy rainfall and fears were heightened when the Environment Agency announced it could not continue to maintain defences along the Blyth estuary indefinitely.

Major delays on the road cause huge inconvenience for people and businesses in the area, as well as damaging economic prosperity.

The county council secured a £1.8million grant to deal with the problem and had considered 
raising the road but is now going to “develop the option” of installing a sluice. (more…)

It is the quintessential coastal holiday destination, complete with a historic harbour popular with yacht owners and idyllic countryside that offers visitors a glimpse of a more traditional, genteel way of life.

Such is the charm of Southwold, on the Suffolk coast, that Gordon Brown and his wife Sarah took their two sons on a family holiday there and each summer the town attracts thousands of music fans who come to enjoy the Latitude Festival.

But now large areas of the popular beauty spot are to be lost under government plans to abandon the flood defences that have protected the town and its surrounding countryside from the sea for more than 400 years. (more…)

An historic harbour wall that is in poor condition and has been slowly crumbling into the sea is set to get a rescue package.

Waveney District Councillors are being urged next week to adopt a policy to save Southwold Harbour North Quay Wall from further collapse.

Harbour users and council officers have already agreed urgent action needs to be taken to prevent the structure from becoming even more precarious but concerns were raised over where the money to fund the repairs would come from. (more…)

GUIDELINES on how the government will try to tackle the problem of coastal erosion will be drawn up using knowledge from communities along the Norfolk and Suffolk coast, a minister said yesterday.

Huw Irranca-Davies, minister for the natural and marine environment, wildlife and rural affairs, visited the east coast yesterday to see local erosion problems first hand.

He was taken to Southwold, where he was shown the crumbling north dock wall at the harbour. In the past few months, large sections of concrete have fallen off the wall, which protects businesses and roads leading into Southwold from flooding. (more…)

An emergency meeting has been called after part of a wall protecting land and homes around an historic harbour breached.

A section of the wall at Southwold harbour – thought to be about 6ft wide – gave way earlier this week and it is feared that the rest of the structure could now be under threat unless immediate action is taken to repair it.

A team of divers will take to the water on Monday to survey the damage while councillors hold an emergency meeting to discuss what can be done to protect the future of the structure. (more…)

The effects of dredging off the Norfolk and Suffolk coasts on fishing and coastal erosion are to be examined by a major year-long scientific study.

The Anglian Offshore Dredging Association (AODA) is due to renew its licenses to extract sand from the seabed around the East Anglian coast within the next six years.

Now the association, which represents five of the UK’s largest dredging companies, is going to undertake a series of environmental studies over the next 12 months to look at the effects of dredging on the environment, including offshore wind farms, fishing, navigation and erosion. (more…)

From the Holy Trinity Church looming over the marshes at Blythburgh to a safe haven for rare birds, the banks of the Blyth estuary offer some of north Suffolk’s most peaceful countryside.

But the village landmarks, animals and farmland could soon be lost to the sea if campaigners are defeated and the Environment Agency’s (EA) proposals to stop maintaining the area’s flood defences are given the go-ahead. (more…)

The battle to protect large sections of the north Suffolk coastline from flooding was dealt a huge blow last night after it emerged environment chiefs were set to continue with plans to abandon defences.

Protesters have fought a high- profile campaign against the Environment Agency’s proposals to stop maintaining flood defences along the Blyth estuary, but appear to be facing a bitter defeat. (more…)

Southwold always seemed an unlikely holiday destination for the Prime Minister: charming, upmarket, its development paternalistically guided by the Adnams brewery. The one thing he might have liked was the quiet. Except that, when Gordon Brown was there, calm was thrown to the blustery North Sea winds.

The burghers of this most easy-going of seaside towns actually mounted a demonstration. The subject that had got their blood up was coastal defence.

Over the past couple of days, Lord Smith of Finchley has relit the firework. Otherwise known as the ex-Culture Secretary Chris Smith, he now heads the Environment Agency.

A report on sea defences, due next year, is expected to make uncomfortable reading for parts of Norfolk, Suffolk and elsewhere. Already, the River Blyth, near Southwold, is being abandoned.

Read the full story by Clive Aslet in the Telegraph

ENVIRONMENT Agency officials are talking to the owners of 23 homes in the Blyth Estuary over possible ways to reduce the risk of their properties flooding and minimising damage if they do flood.

The move follows proposals to phase out maintenance of flood defences in the estuary in order to release more funds to help protect populated areas.

At first 40 properties in the Blyth estuary were expected to be at increased risk of flooding if the proposals went ahead but a further, more detailed study has established that only 23 of them are protected by the existing walls – in a deteriorating condition and, according to the Environment Agency, likely to cost £34million to re-build.

Officials are now talking to the owners about ways to protect their properties on a local basis – by creating small earthbanks in strategic locations. (more…)