Flood Defence Boost for the Suffolk Coast

A £25 million investment will enable flood defence works at Benacre to be fully completed.

Overall project funding of £59 million is being committed to the project by DEFRA and a range of other organisations. The county council itself plans to commit £2 million to the scheme, an amount already earmarked from reserves, and will go before Cabinet for approval at its meeting on 8 October 2024.

If the scheme did not go ahead, it is estimated that the economic impact would run into the hundreds of millions of pounds, just from the flooding of the A12 alone. There would be significant costs to the county council from having to manage regular road closures, to delivering an alternative long-term solution to protect the A12.

Preliminary work on flood defences has been underway at the site, near the A12 at Benacre sluice close to Lowestoft, which is close to being breached. This is work is being led by the Waveney, Lower Yare & Lothingland Internal Drainage Board, supported by the Environment Agency to safeguard the area for now and long into the future.

The new investment will mean that the full project can be completed, with construction expected to begin in Spring 2025.

The Benacre and Kessingland Managed Realignment Scheme will protect dozens of local properties and around 600ha of farmland south of Lowestoft. It will also help to significantly reduce the number of road closures due to flooding on the A12.

The A12 is a vital transport link for local communities and is one of the main delivery routes for the Sizewell C project. Without the scheme, it is estimated that, in a worst-case scenario, there could be between 100-150 days of flooding on the road every year.

The Realignment Scheme will include the construction of two new pumping stations, drains and embankments between the A12 and the coast. It has been under consideration for more than five years and some preliminary work has already been started. The investment from Sizewell C means it can now be completed.

Councillor Richard Rout, Suffolk County Council’s Deputy Cabinet Member for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects, said:

“This is great news on so many levels. The defences against flooding will protect the A12, dozens of local homes, hundreds of acres of farmland and give security to the local economy and tourism. The chosen solution will also create hundreds of acres of valuable inter-tidal habitat for wildlife and people to enjoy.

“Doing nothing was simply not an option. If this scheme did not go ahead, the impacts would be genuinely catastrophic. The A12 would flood up to twice a day with the tides, essentially cutting the east of the county in two.

“For those that maybe don’t travel around this northern part of the county, imagine your nearest A-road being cut off twice a day for hours at a time, with all the additional pressures and complications that would bring.

“This is evidence that the right infrastructure project in the right place can bring huge benefits to a local area and its economy, much like the Gull Wing bridge which we have just delivered up the road in Lowestoft.”