Woman fears clifftop home will not survive winter

A woman whose clifftop home faces being lost to the sea due to coastal erosion said she has been told nothing will be done to save it this year.

Jean Flick, 88, who has lived in her home in the seaside holiday village of Thorpeness, Suffolk for 25 years, said she hoped to stay as long as it was safe to do so.

She had hoped it might be possible to build defences at the foot of the sandy cliffs to slow the ongoing threat of erosion.

East Suffolk Council said: "Contractors are unable to safely carry out works during the short tidal windows this autumn; plans for a short-term intervention will be reviewed in the spring".

Ms Flick said: "We were more or less told nothing will be done and we can't do anything.

"We've had the chap round to look at the demolition and... he says we're more or less at the end.

"It's a case of wait and see, hope the tides are not high and they'll review it again in the new year."

She said she had been told that machinery needed to build sea defences would not be able to access the foot of the cliffs.

"It's the fact they can't get along, I think, to get to it," said Ms Flick.

"They've got to come in down the bottom end and they can't get along with the machinery."

She said that another section of land had fallen away in recent weeks.

Ms Flick had been trying to secure planning permission for rock-filled cages called gabions to be placed at the foot of the cliffs to slow the erosion.

This would be a self-funded project, after previous defences were washed away.

A council spokesperson said: "East Suffolk Council's building control team has met with the owner to discuss a plan to avoid emergency evacuations where possible should critical safety levels be reached.

"We want to allow occupiers the longest possible time in their property, while prioritising safety.

"The point at which they may be required to vacate on safety grounds depends on factors including practicalities of access for safe property removal."

Shelley Cowlin has lived on the seafront for about 50 years and said erosion was a "great worry" but was hopeful the "beach is returning" after noticing more shingle appearing.

She said she was trying to "remain optimistic... not worry the whole time otherwise my life would be hell".

She believed the issue should have been tackled earlier and said if something was not done "it's not going to just be the cliff that goes — it will be the whole village", which lies between Aldeburgh and Sizewell.

Maureen Jones, chairwoman of Aldringham-cum-Thorpe Parish Council, which covers Thorpeness, said coastal erosion has had a big impact on house prices.

"Property values are really going down; I believe around 25% of people are trying to sell their houses along here [the beach], she said.

She called for sea defences to be installed on the beach, she said: "If not, the village will go — people are fearful."

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