If the EA allows a new estuary to form between Walberswick and Dunwich it will mean that the Old Town Marshes, Corporation Marshes, Town Salts, Town Marshes and the Caravan Site would be lost to the estuary in the short term. The higher ground of Walberswick beach and Cliff Field would be left encircled by water: the North Sea to the east, the new Environment Agency estuary to the south, the Dunwich River (the “Creek”) to the west and the Blyth to the north.

The flooding following the breach of 1 November 2006 demonstrated how quickly daily tidal movement and the increased volume of water caused erosion of the beach, the Dunwich River banks and the area downstream of the sluice.

The WSDG believe that once Walberswick beach and Cliff Field are encircled by water, they will be defenceless. The encirclement will cause such erosion that the beach will eventually be lost, with the shoreline of Walberswick village becoming the wall erected following the1953 flood. This concern appears to be justified by the EA’s own flood map of Walberswick. The WSDG believes that ongoing maintenance of the shingle ridge, for at least the next 50 years, is the best option. Current predictions are that sea levels on the Suffolk coast will only rise by between 300mm and 350mm over the next 50 years. The WSDG believes that it should be possible to accommodate a rise of this magnitude by regular maintenance of the shingle ridge. Predictions of sea level rises for the 50 to 100 year period vary and the science surrounding these predictions is by no means certain. We believe it is not appropriate to plan beyond the 50 year period at this time.

EA Map showing where a new estuary would form to the south of Walberswick

The shingle ridge should be maintained, otherwise the land it protects could be lost to future generations for the sake of currently contentious long-term scientific assumptions.
A series of relatively low-cost repairs to the shingle ridge would be better than letting it fail and incurring higher costs later.

The 1953 Sea Wall - The last line of defence