ESTUARINE STRATEGY

Link to Key Questions which have been put to the Environment Agency

Link to Environment Agency Map Showing Existing River Defences

The following article appeared in the Aldeburgh Gazette on 2 January 2004.

ENVIRONMENT AGENCY LAUNCH FLOOD MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

The Environment Agency formally launched their Flood Management Strategy for the Alde and Ore at public exhibitions in Aldeburgh on 26^th November and Orford on 27^th November. There was a little more publicity than last time though I know a lot of people would welcome more notice particularly those living and/or working outside the immediate area. The Alde and Ore Association will press again for more notice to be given of these events particularly as the next stage “identified options” will form a crucial stage in the development of their Strategy.

What to make of all this? A number of people who have seen what has happened over much longer period of years than me tell me they think it is all no more than a PR exercise. They doubt very much whether the Agency will take any notice of what we say. Equally there is little doubt the Agency is making a much greater effort to consult than they did some 5 years ago when the Alde and Ore Association had virtually no time to comment on their preferred options.

For those who have filled in one of the Agency’s forms asking to be consulted but who were unable to attend the exhibitions my impression is that they missed very little. The Agency and their consultants have been collecting a great deal of data but none of this was presented at the exhibitions. Even the map showing existing flood defences, which some people have commented is inaccurate, looks identical to the more detailed map prepared by the Agency’s consultants, Posford Duvivier, in 1999. This and the CHAMPS plan (Coastal Habitat Management Plan for the Suffolk Coast and Estuaries) could mean that the Agency will put forward the same proposals as previously, ie letting nature take its course except where there is a need to protect people and property.

In discussions with Agency representatives they assure me that their environmental analysis will take into account the socio-economic impact of preferred options. However, this does not come out very clearly in their introductory pamphlet. We will need to press the Agency again, as we have been doing over a long period, to take account of the wider economic aspects.These will be set out in the Friends of the Rivers Economic Impact Study which is due to be published on 17 January 2004.

Although at the next stage the Agency will identify “options” and then “preferred options” we need to keep in mind that they work within the framework of Government policy and EU law. This is likely to mean that they will only consider options which are “economically feasible” and which can be justified by yielding a positive net return after they have undertaken a cost-benefit analysis. They are also in some cases likely to say that their “computer models” show that certain options are not “feasible” in the longer term. As most people know long range forecasts and hence strategies are subject to large margins of error because too often the assumptions prove false.

The only clear message at this stage is that the Agency do want to hear your views. Personally I was very disappointed with the very small number of people who wrote to the SCDC formally objecting to placing the Maggie Hamblin sculpture on Aldeburgh beach (originally opposite my Aldeburgh home). I know from long experience that public bodies do take note of the number of objections and comments made by individuals not just the views bodies such as the Alde and Ore Association. Our enquiries suggest that that relatively few people have responded to the Agency’s requests for comments.

I would therefore urge everyone who cares about the future of our rivers to register an interest by sending in the form available from the Environment Agency’s consultants Black and Veatch (Tel: 01737 774155 or email suffolk-enquiries@bv.com) and telling them bluntly we want the broad configuration of our rivers maintained and that “managed re-alignment” is not an option we favour. The only circumstances in which this should be considered is where it can be termed what the Dutch describe as “tactical retreat”.

Faced by huge actual floods following a terrible storm, not predictions of floods in 100 years time, the Dutch decided it was better to let the water flood one major area since it meant that they could then protect all the other areas. As we have told the Agency we think all existing river defences should be maintained and brought back to their original standard and that we should then re-asses the position in 10 years time.

I hope many many people will write to the Agency supporting this view and tell them what they feel are the “unique features” of our rivers. It would also help to have a huge turnout at the Alde and Ore Association’s Winter lecture on Friday, 9 January 2004 (7 pm in the Jubilee Hall) when those attending will have an opportunity to question Nigel Pask, the Environment Agency’s Project Manager, and at the first Planning Forum meeting on Saturday, 17 January 2004. This will include presentations by Simon Hooton, Chairman of the Planning Partnership’s Steering Group, English Nature, the Environment Agency and Penny Kay who will outline the main findings of the Friends of the Rivers’ Economic Impact Study. This meeting will be of particular interests to the business community. Programme details and arrangements for the Forum are available from Jacquie Smith (01728 746420 email: jacqueline.smith11@btopenworld.com. Book early space is limited.

I am developing web sites for the Alde and Ore Association and the Planning Partnership at www.aldeandore.net where you can find much additional background information about the threats to our rivers.

DAVID ANDREN

David Andren is the Alde & Ore Association’s Committee member with responsibility for Estuarine Strategy. You can contact him on 01394 450 374 and email him at andrendb@aol.com.