East Suffolk Council

What do Coastal Management do?

Our overall aim is to appropriately manage risk to life, property and the environment from coastal erosion and related flooding. This includes:

• as a Coast Risk Management Authority under the Coast Protection Act 1949 and Flood and Water Management Act 2010, exercising powers to benefit local communities,
• providing a strategic approach to flood and erosion risk management, in the best interests of local communities,
• working in partnership to investigate, appraise and implement both traditional coastal management approaches and innovative resilience and adaptation programmes.

To deliver these aims, we undertake a broad range of coastal management activities including:

• managing flood and erosion risk and planning for the future in a sustainable way;
• monitoring changes to the coastline and using the information collected to inform future management;
• understanding how the variety of coastal processes work along and adjacent to our coastline;
• providing advice on existing and new developments in coastal areas;
• working with others to influence and deliver coastal policies;
• working with community-based groups to achieve long term local objectives;
• repairing and maintaining the existing coastal defences in Suffolk, in line with Shoreline Management Plan policies;
• delivering the policies within the Shoreline Management Plans.

Major projects

Resilient Coasts

East Suffolk Council is the lead authority on the Resilient Coasts project, working in partnership with Great Yarmouth Borough Council. The aim of the project is to explore innovative solutions to help coastal communities across Norfolk and Suffolk become more resilient to coastal change.

This means investigating, trialling and evaluating potential longer-term coastal management solutions. The evidence gathered through this six-year programme will inform future approaches to, and investment in, national flood and coastal risk management.

This project is funded by Defra as part of the £200 million Flood and Coastal Innovation Programmes which is managed by the Environment Agency. The programmes will drive innovation in flood and coastal resilience and adaptation to a changing climate.

Resilient Coasts is:

• using the latest technology to monitor the coast to help understand how it is changing,
• working with communities in carefully selected pilot locations to understand their risk and what options they have,
• investigating new, natural short-term solutions to help buy time for communities at risk of erosion to plan for their future,  
• identifying any policies that need to be changed to help adaptation take place, raising this at government level through the Local Government Association Coastal Special interest Group, all party parliamentary groups and key influencers,
• exploring financial options to enable those whose homes are likely to be lost in the immediate future to move in a planned way,
• working with communities in pilot locations to help them plan for and adapt to coastal erosion.

Lowestoft Flood Protection

Lowestoft Flood Protection is a range of schemes seeking to reduce the risk of flooding from tidal surges. Conceived following the 2013 east coast tidal surge, the schemes were developed to be 1.5km of tidal floodwalls to better protect key locations in the town and a tidal barrier planned to be built across the entrance of Lake Lothing. 

In 2020 funding was secured to progress the schemes with £43 million awarded from the Government's Green Recovery Fund with additional funding secured from the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership, Flood Defence Grant in Aid, Local Levy contributions, the Department for Education and contributions from Suffolk County Council and East Suffolk Council.

This allowed construction to start on the tidal floodwalls in 2021, with work completing in 2023. The 1.5km of tidal floodwalls were built around Hamilton Road and Waveney Road to the north and around the Royal Norfolk and Suffolk Yacht Club and South Pier to the south.

The defences are made up of a mixture of solid floodwalls, demountable defences, floodgates and glass floodwalls. The glass floodwalls run around the Yacht Club and the South Pier to maintain views of the marina and Port.

While construction on the floodwalls took place, work continued on the design of the proposed tidal barrier. During this time costs increased as a result of costs of materials, labour, design changes and inflation which led to the emergence of an £124 million funding gap. The project team engaged with both the Government and the Environment Agency to seek necessary additional funding to continue, but were unsuccessful. In January 2024 East Suffolk Council made the decision to halt work on the tidal barrier scheme as there was no immediate prospect of funding being met. 

The tidal flood walls and demountable defences will provide some protection to key areas of the town in conjunction with 1.4km of temporary defences which would be deployed along Lake Lothing in the event of a tidal surge. The alignment of the temporary defences has been amended to tie in with the tidal flood walls following their completion to better protect the most vulnerable areas of Lowestoft.

Who is involved?

We work closely with local communities and businesses, keeping them involved in and informed about our work and plans through comprehensive engagement in person and online.

We also work with a number of organisations such as contractors, flood and coastal erosion risk specialists, and statutory bodies like the Environment Agency.

Suffolk Coast Forum

One of the ways we do this is via the Suffolk Coast Forum - a group of organisations who take a partnership approach to flood and coastal erosion risk management and closely related issues on the coast and estuaries. If you would like any additional information or to view the papers from Suffolk Coast Forum meetings please contact our Coastal Management Team.

East Anglian Coastal Group (EACG)

The East Anglian Coastal Group brings together Coastal Protection Authorities and governmental bodies to work towards a joined-up sustainable approach to coastal management. The group covers the coast from Gibraltar Point in Lincolnshire to the Thames Barrier. The group meets quarterly, with the meeting location varying and including site visits whenever possible.

The primary objective of the group is to influence and support members to manage the coast for the benefit of the Anglian region.

Local Government Association Coastal Special Interest Group (LGA Coastal SIG)

The LGA Coastal SIG has a membership of 57 local authorities from around the coast of England, covering over 60% of the coast and serving 16 million people. East Suffolk Council works closely with the LGA Coastal SIG on a number of issues and projects.  Find out more about the LGA Coastal SIG.

Anglian (Eastern) Regional Flood and Coastal Committee (RFCC)

The Regional Flood and Coastal Committee is a valuable partner on the Suffolk coast. We work closely on a number of fronts, particularly with engaging both communities but also partners and government.