Resilient Coasts - Great Yarmouth and East Suffolk

Using practical solutions to address the barriers to increasing the resilience of our coastal communities

The Resilient Coasts project works 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.

Norfolk and Suffolk have some of the fastest eroding coasts in Europe, with over 2,500 homes at direct coastal risk and thousands more properties and businesses directly and indirectly affected by loss of property, infrastructure and utilities. Recent national reports and enquiries have recommended that more is done to support coastal adaptation and resilience.

Managing East Anglia’s soft eroding coast is currently challenging and reactive. With 2500 homes at risk of erosion, and thousands more relying on infrastructure and utilities in coastal change management areas, we need a broader approach to coastal management. Recent national reports and enquiries have recommended that more is done to support coastal adaptation and resilience. This project will allow our coast to transition from reactive to planned solutions that deliver improved outcomes.

The project

We will implement an ambitious resilience programme for the Norfolk and Suffolk coast, that delivers real adaptation and resilience options for our communities.

This will include a complete suite of planning, engagement, technical, financial and policy tools to support coastal transition for Norfolk and Suffolk communities, which could also be applied to the rest of the UK coast.

We will work in 5 core pilot locations across the Norfolk and Suffolk coast, plus 4 additional ‘twin’ locations. We will deliver in close collaboration with communities, alongside a multi-sector and national group of partner organisations with a proven track record of delivering tangible change within their sectors. We will deliver tangible, measurable and sustainable changes which will enable communities to adapt to climate and coastal change now and for future generations.

Our Coastal Adaptation Toolkit will plug existing gaps, offer a suite of tools based on new evidence, and support co-created community resilience ‘master plans’ for pilot areas. Ultimately, this project will create a sustainable transition framework, serving as a blueprint for resilient coasts that are socially, economically and environmentally viable, while having the scope to flex and develop as coastal change occurs.

Our Legacy will be to create a 30 year catchment-based, coastal management approach that creates climate resilient place by 2045.

Coastal challenges - a community voice

The video below discusses some of the challenges faced by our coastal communities. Lucy Ansbro, a resident of Thorpeness, talks about how she has been affected.

Our project will:

1. Enable five coastal communities and four ‘twin’ locations to adapt and be resilient in a measurable way.
2. Test, pilot and deliver a practical Coastal Adaptation Toolkit. This will be co-created with communities and comprised of a Community Adaptation Masterplan, Innovative Adaptation Funding Mechanism, a Behavioural Change Toolkit and an Infrastructure Investment Plan.
3. Significantly upskill the flood and coastal resilience sector in addressing community coastal adaptation and transition, with solutions ready to be applied to other locations across the nations of the UK.

How to get involved

If you are a designer, engineer, entrepreneur, or just have a great idea for innovative ways to inform our coastal adaptation plans, please let us know using the "Coastal Adaptation, Innovation and Resilience" contact form below.

How our project is testing innovation:

We are testing 5 resilience actions as part of the Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation Programme:

• Nature based solutions
• Community infrastructure resilience
• Monitoring and management of local assets
• Minimise damages and disruption to small and medium sized businesses
• Community and voluntary sector action to be better prepared and recover more quickly

Who are we?

Coastal Partnership East is an innovative approach to managing the coast between Holkham in North Norfolk and Landguard Point in Felixstowe, bringing together the coastal management resources and expertise from Great Yarmouth Borough Council, North Norfolk District Council, and East Suffolk Council. Coastal Partnership East works in partnership with the Environment Agency, the Water Management Alliance, coast and estuary community partnerships and others along the 173km of coast in Norfolk and Suffolk.

We are also working with Babergh District Council, with Shotley as one of the twin locations in the pilot.

Who is working with us

AECOM, Anglian Water, Anglian Water Centre for Research, Babergh District Council, Balfour Beatty, Broadland Futures Initiative, Coastal Partners Solent, Corton Parish Council, Grantham Research Institute, GroundWork, Hemsby Parish Council, Local Government Association Coastal Special Interest Group (LGA SIG), London School of Economics, Marsh, Norfolk Coast Forum, Pakefield Community Steering Group, Save Hemsby Coastline Community Group, Shotley Parish Council, Southwold to Walberswick Board, Suffolk Coast Forum, The Crown Estate, Thorpeness Coastal Futures, Tyndall Centre/University of East Anglia, Zurich Flood Resilience Alliance