Villagers face 'bureaucracy' in fight against sea

Maureen Jones worries more metres of coast could be lost before Christmas

Residents of a coastal village say they are willing to pay for defences to protect their homes from the sea but are being thwarted by bureaucracy and delay.

One home in Thorpeness, Suffolk, was demolished in 2022 after it was left perilously close to the cliff edge, and villagers fear two more could be lost this winter.

Maureen Jones, chairwoman of Aldringham-cum-Thorpe Parish Council, said residents were willing to invest money in defending their homes but had been met with challenges.

East Suffolk Council told the BBC that getting the necessary permission for such defences took time.

Defences, including rocks, gabions and geobags, have been installed to manage the effects of coastal erosion, but last year up to 23ft (7m) of coast was lost to the sea.

Some residents want to install more defences

"Residents in Thorpeness are prepared to put in money and they have put in for planning but unfortunately at the moment they are coming up against a brick wall because there's about 10 agencies concerned in getting planning through," said Jones.

Sophie Marple, who bought her home in Thorpeness about 20 years ago, describes it as her "happy place".

In 2010, after the area was hit with a "big surge" and more defences were installed, she decided to invest and rebuild the property.

"It gave us a feeling of security. There was a thought if they maintained, we would have a life of at least 25 years," she said.

Sophie Marple says the impacts of coastal erosion on the community has brought residents together and they plan to "fight" for their properties

However, over the past winter there have been "constant" northerly winds which have stripped back shingle on the beach and left defences exposed.

She said she had received a warning from East Suffolk Council that once the erosion reached a certain point, she would be told to demolish her home.

"We are going to fight to do something. One of the things this does do is bring the people together who are most affected," she said.

Lucy Ansbro has already spent £450,000 on rock defences to protect her home.

She and others have applied for permission to install more, but have been told this would require a full environmental impact assessment, which could take months.

Mark Packnard says it would cost millions to protect the coastline from erosion

The council has launched a survey, asking villagers what they think should be done.

It said the latest erosion had outpaced plans to install more rocks and it was doing all it could to support homeowners.

Mark Packard, Liberal Democrat cabinet member for planning and coastal management, said: "It does take time and you have to have specialists doing that.

"That's going to slow things up tremendously, and then you have to get all these permissions from Natural England, from the Environment Agency, from the Crown Estates - all sorts of people - and they take their time."