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 Protection Operating 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, as part of the CPE partnership, 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

In Suffolk we are currently delivering the Lowestoft Flood Risk Management Project, which, when complete, will protect more than 1,500 homes and 825 businesses.

Across Great Yarmouth Borough and East Suffolk we are working on the Resilient Coasts project - using practical solutions to address the barriers to increasing the resilience of our coastal communities.

The Resilient Coasts project will work alongside affected coastal communities in carefully selected pilot locations to create a practical toolkit of options that enable the people, economies and environment of the Great Yarmouth and Suffolk coastal frontages to transition to a climate resilient coast.

We will proactively work with communities in the pilot locations to develop this toolkit, enabling individuals, businesses and community groups to understand and to be actively engaged with the future of their communities, helping them shape their place on the coast.

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 & coastal erosion risk specialists, and statutory bodies like the Environment Agency.

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. You can find more about the Suffolk Coast Forum and our wider work on the Coastal Partnership East website.