A £400,000 scheme to protect a vulnerable stretch of Suffolk coastline has finished ahead of schedule.

The second phase of the project at Thorpeness involved nearly 2,000 fabric bags filled with sand and shingle being used to strength the defences.

The defences at the northern end of the village are being reconstructed and strengthened after damage caused by storms in June last year.

The work was made possible by a partnership involving Suffolk Coastal District Council, the Environment Agency and local residents.

Andy Smith, deputy leader of the council, said: “It is great that the £400,000 second phase scheme has completed its main and hugely important task of repairing and strengthening the damaged existing defences, so reducing the immediate threat to local homes from coastal erosion.

“Most of the funding is from the Government via the Environment Agency, with the remainder coming from this council and most importantly local residents, as without their £137,000 commitment the scheme would not have got financial backing from the Government.

A total of 1,856 bags were needed – 200 fewer than estimated – and the work, carried out by J Breheny Contractors Ltd, finished two weeks ahead of schedule. There will now be additional repair work to the gabions which could extend into February.

The work involved bags being laid eight to 10 layers deep on more than one-and-a-half square miles of geo-fabric, creating a 600ft toe-shaped structure that will provide vital support to the existing rock- filled wire basket revetment.

Charles Beardall, area manager for the Environment Agency, said: “We are delighted that this important scheme is progressing well. The local community are to be commended for the vital part that they have played in making this scheme possible.”

Because the area is still a
construction site, the fencing will have to remain up over the Christmas period and closed to public access.

Story by Jonathan Barnes on the Coastal Scene website

EMERGENCY work has started in a bid to protect a vulnerable cliff face that has fallen victim to the ravages of coastal erosion.

The EADT reported last week how homeowners living in North End Avenue, Thorpeness, near Aldeburgh, were becoming increasingly concerned.The heavy storms at the beginning of the month gave the beach such a pounding that tonnes of material was swept out to sea.

In just a fortnight, gently-sloping shingle has been replaced by a sheer drop of between 18 and 20ft, while the gabions – wire nets filled with rocks secured to the cliff face to help reduce the impact of coastal erosion – have also been exposed.

A number of homes were at risk and Shelley and Mick Cowlin, who have lived in their property for more than 30 years, urged coastal bosses to step in and take action.

The district council was quick to respond and as these pictures show contractors are now working at low tide to secure new gabions in front of the cliff where the main erosion has happened. Last night, Mrs Cowlin said she was pleased work had started to try and shore up the cliff face.

Andy Smith, cabinet member for coastal protection and deputy leader of Suffolk Coastal District Council, said they will soon be meeting with residents to discuss what has been done and future options.

“This work should provide some significant temporary respite to the cliffs and so offer some reassurance to those living in the nearby homes,” he said.

It is also hoped a change in the weather – more particularly in the strength and direction of the wind – should mean a respite for the beach and could even see a return of some of the materials washed out to sea.

Story by Craig Robinson in the East Anglian Daily Times

The waves have washed away the shingle which covered the gabions

Homeowners living on the cliff top at Thorpeness are questioning whether dredging is to blame.

Shingle has been washed away at North End Avenue exposing the gabions (wire baskets filled with rocks) which protect the sandy cliff.

“It’s very, very frightening,” said Sheila Green, who lives there.

The British Marine Aggregate Producers Association said there’s no connection between dredging at sea and the erosion on the beach.

“On a bad night it’s quite frightening to lie in bed and hear those big waves crashing into the beach,” said John Green, Sheila’s husband.

“It’s a great shame, because it’s a beautiful spot. You get up in the morning and at 5 o’clock the sun’s rising and everything is pink and you’re in heaven.”

The gabions were laid at the bottom of the cliff in the mid-1970s and were covered in shingle.

Until now, the stakes in front of the bottom row of gabions had never been exposed.

Heavy storms at the start of May 2010 swept away any remaining shingle and a 20 foot section of cliff was eroded to the south of the gabions.

“When you’ve got a high tide it would come up to the bottom of our steps here. When you’re lying in bed, you can hear that the sea is nearer,” said Sheila.

John and Sheila Green in their cliff top back garden

Dredging at sea

Dredging takes place at grounds all along the East Anglian coast – consisting of fossil deposits which have filled in old river channels formed in the Ice Age.

One of the largest current projects is providing the aggregate for the £300m expansion project at the Port of Felixstowe.

“Okay, if this [erosion] is an act of God, then you’ve got to accept it,” said Sheila. “But I want to know about that dredging.

“They were extensively dredging last year and it seems that they’re getting nearer.

“If they’ve done something like that that’s interfered with our property, then we’re not very pleased and we want to get to the bottom of it.”

The British Marine Aggregates Producers Association (BMAPA) denies there’s any connection between shifting shingle and dredging.

“If there’s any doubt that the extraction was causing an impact on the coastline, the dredging would simply not be permitted,” said Mark Russell, director of BMAPA.

“The near shore movement of shingle is dominated by waves. Off-shore it’s dominated by tidal flows which run parallel to the coast, not against it.”

He said the nearest grounds are 30.5km from Thorpeness and the depth of dredging would only ever be 2-5m.

BMAPA says the industry is regulated by the Marine Management Organisation which answers to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

Suffolk Coastal District Council has put up warning signs about the gabions

Future protection

Suffolk Coastal District Council says it is consulted on any dredging work, but it has no powers or control over it.

However, they are carrying out around £10,000 of work to shore-up the existing gabions at Thorpeness and to protect the section of cliff that’s just been eroded.

“When the gabions were [originally] done, people did give money,” said Sheila. “I think it was about £1000 each for these seven houses.

“So whether that will come in again? But we would hope the council will do the best part.”

Sheila’s house isn’t under immediate threat.

“No, and I don’t think it will be for quite a while, but we just want to keep the sea back a bit so that it doesn’t come to that!”

Story by Andrew Woodger on the BBC News website

CONCERNED residents have urged coastal bosses to step in and save their homes from the ravages of the North Sea.

In the last two weeks large sections of the cliff behind properties in North End Avenue, Thorpeness, near Aldeburgh, have been washed away.

What was once a gentle shingle slope leading down to the beach has been replaced by a sheer drop of between 18 and 20ft.

The gabions – nets filled with rocks secured to the cliff face to help reduce the impact of coastal erosion – have also been exposed.

Bosses at Suffolk Coastal District Council have now stepped in and will be taking urgent action in a bid to prevent further losses to the cliff.

A total of seven homes are at risk – including that of Shelley and Mick Cowlin.

The couple have lived at their property for more than 30 years and are gravely concerned about the situation.

“The tide has been extremely high recently,” Mrs Cowlin said. “We could walk down to the beach before but now there is a drop. It has changed completely.

“It’s very frightening. We just want something to be done before it is too late. It won’t take too much longer before it has disappeared completely.”

Mrs Cowlin’s neighbours, John Green and his wife Sheila, who have had their property for nearly 20 years, are just as concerned about the recent developments.

“It has been quite dramatic,” Mr Green said. “You used to be able to walk down the steps from the garden and there was a gentle curve – now that has disappeared entirely.”

Mrs Green said she thought the changes had been caused by dredging out to sea, which has made the coastline more vulnerable to erosion.

“It’s not like we have had a terrible storm or anything like that,” she said. “It’s ridiculous. The sea bed has been interfered with. That, combined with high tides, has done it. It’s never been like this before.”

Their fears were expressed just days after former MP John Gummer warned communities may have to fund their own sea defences in the future because of the pressures of the financial crisis.

Last night a spokesman for Suffolk Coastal District Council said they would be taking urgent action early next week to put in place more wire baskets which should prevent any further erosion.

“The stretch of beach at Thorpeness has a network of what are basically wire baskets filled with rock to help coastal protection,” he said. “The stormy weather of two weekends ago removed about 4ft of sand from above these baskets and exposed them for the first time in anyone’s memory.

“The continuing northerly winds have led to another foot of the sand being removed and also meant that about 20ft of cliffs on the Aldeburgh side of the baskets was also lost.”

Mark Russell, director of the British Marine Aggregate Producers Association, which is responsible for dredging, said there were areas off the Suffolk coast where such activity was allowed.

However, he said the industry was governed by a strict set of regulations and if it was thought that it could lead to coastal erosion then it would not be permitted.

Story by Craig Robinson in the East Anglian Daily Times