Introduction
The vulnerability of the Alde and Ore area to coastal and
estuary flooding has been a major concern to many of the residents,
businesses and visitors to the area for some time. The government’s
approach to managing this risk has been to develop
Shoreline Management Plans - the most recent
version of which has been published by Suffolk Coastal and Waveney
District Councils.
However, this recognises that the Alde and Ore is very complex
and there are significant interdependencies between the coast and
estuary defence and the long term future of the local communities.
In order assess fully the environmental impacts of all of the
proposed approaches in the area, a Strategic Environmental
Assessment has been undertaken - a non-technical summary and
environmental report are available below:
It is essential however that the needs of the local community
are taken into account with any long term planning and therefore a
new approach has been piloted on the Alde and Ore which started
with a community conference.
Community conferences and topic area working groups
In order to ensure that there was an opportunity for
representatives of interested parties to be involved, a
community conference was held in September 2009
at Snape Maltings. The event was held to raise the profile of the
project, to help identify why local people value the area, collate
the issues and concerns so new ways can be developed to manage the
area in the future.
Five 'task and finish'
working groups, chaired by members of the
local community and involving both volunteers from the community
and officers from the Suffolk Coast Futures partner
organisations, were set up
to look at five topic areas in order to find
out what matters most to people living and working in and around
the Alde and Ore estuary.
A
second community conference, held at Snape
Maltings in March 2010, enabled the topic area working groups to
report back on their work identifying the issues and possible
solutions.
Key issues
The work of the various topic areas has been concluded and the
results brought together into
three inter-related documents with key topics
listed below. Each of the three documents contain numerous case
studies highlighting examples of where local action is making a
real difference locally:
-
Building the local economy
Businesses working together.
Farming matters.
Art and coastal change.
Building the tourism economy.
Broadband and mobile phones.
Business emergency planning.
-
Managing the coastal environment
Estuary and sea walls.
Art and coastal change.
Shingle recycling at Slaughden.
Maintenance and investment.
Emergency planning.
Funding.
Flood compartment specific information.
-
Viable and thriving communities
Community-led and
emergency planning.
The future of local housing.
Broadband and mobile phones.
Public transport.
Environment recreation and access.
Decision making.
The Big Conversation
The key issues and possible actions from each document were part
a Big Conversation locally, which took place from 4 July to 30
September 2011. The Big Conversation sought to identify the gaps,
priorities and to build consensus over the shared objectives for
the area.
Framework Plan
The draft Framework Plan was drafted by the
steering group following analysis of the
feedback from the Big Conversation. It is a focussed action plan
and structured as follows:
- Sample feedback from the Big Conversation (white column).
- Actions that need to be led by local authorities, agencies or
organisations (due to their complexity, geographical spread or
resource needs) to support local people (yellow columns).
- Actions that can be undertaken by individuals or communities,
with the support of local authorities, agencies or 3rd sector to
resolve the issues locally (blue columns).
The responses to the Big Conversation are
available to view here and the draft
Framework Plan is available below:
The draft Framework Plan was available for public comment until
Friday 9 March, people were invited to build on the initial
draft by:
- Adding in new achievable actions.
- Adding or amending to those taking responsibility.
- Updating timescales.
Managing the project
The Alde & Ore Futures project is being jointly managed by a
steering group made up of representatives from
Suffolk Coast Futures, topic area chairs, supporting officers and
the chair of the Alde and Ore Estuary Planning Partnership
(EPP).
The Alde and Ore Estuary Planning Partnership (new
window) is supporting communication with the community and
acting as a 'sounding board' for the project. Formed in 2004
this joint community, local authority and agency group was set
up to improve communication with the community around the
estuary.
Project closure
The Alde & Ore Futures project will formally be closed on
the afternoon of 17 May 2012 at a public meeting
where, in addition, the Alde and Ore Association will hold its AGM,
the Alde and Ore Estuary Planning Partnership will be concluded and
the new Alde and Ore Estuary Partnership (AOEP) will be launched.
The Defra Minister Richard Benyon MP will provide the keynote
address. More details will be widely advertised locally.
The Alde & Ore Futures project itself will conclude with the
following items:
- The Framework Plan that will be finalised following the public
drop-in session on 29 February 2012 with actions
to be taken on by the new AOEP when it is formed.
- A summary of the ‘lessons learnt’ will be drawn up to help
other estuary and coast projects in working with communities on
challenging issues.
- A summary of the Futures process as a record and provide
inspiration to others.
- Case studies of parts of the Futures project to encourage
others to make a difference locally.
- A ‘10 year look forward’ a document produced by the Environment
Agency outlining the current standard of protection and an estimate
of what actions the Environment Agency are likely to be undertaking
over the next few years that acts as a baseline for future
decisions to be made by the AOEP.
- Website access to the key flood and coastal erosion risk
management documents that form the core basis for future decision
making within the estuary in flood risk management.
If you require further information please contact Bill Parker,
Alde & Ore Futures Project Officer (contact details at the
foot of the page).
Suffolk Coast Futures is a partnership involving:
If you would like more information about the project please
contact:
Bill Parker,
Suffolk Coast Futures Officer,
Email:
aldeandorefutures@suffolkcoastal.gov.uk.
Telephone: 01394 444553.
Twitter: http://twitter.com/AldeOreFutures