Reydon coastal consultation deadline extended

An informal consultation seeking views on the idea has now been extended until 12 noon Monday, September 10 so that as many people as possible have a chance to have their say before any detailed plans are drawn up and outline planning permission sought.

"This is a pioneering and imaginative initiative which would offer hope to those whose homes are falling into the sea. It is being proposed that these nine homes are rebuilt on a site at Rissemere Lane East in Reydon and we are now trying to gauge the level of support for this radical idea," said Cllr David Ritchie, Cabinet Member for Planning and Coastal Management.

"We have listened to the requests to have more time to consider all the implications, and our new closing date is over four weeks later than we originally announced so it should give everyone a chance to comment. A special public meeting is also being held on Thursday, September 6 so that everyone can find out exactly what is being suggested.

"The important thing to emphasise is that there are no formal plans as yet. This is not about what the homes would look like or where exactly they would be, but about whether people support the principle of using this site for those whose homes will otherwise be lost to the sea," added Cllr Ritchie.

The scheme is part of the Coastal Change Pathfinder Programme, a Government initiative from which Waveney working with Suffolk Coast Futures gained £1.5m funding from in 2009.  The Waveney Pathfinder Project was selected by Defra as a pilot scheme for the Government's policy of helping communities at risk of coastal erosion. Corton and Easton Bavents were chosen to test the options for managing the effects of coastal erosion and its impacts on community life and businesses.

More information can be seen at www.waveney.gov.uk/pathfinder or at Southwold Library, while a public meeting is being held at the Youth Centre in Wangford Road , Reydon from 7.30pm on Thursday, September 6. The meeting is being hosted by Reydon Parish Council and members of the Pathfinder Team and others will be there to answer questions. Immediately afterwards, parish councillors will then decide their council's response to the suggested scheme.

"We are working with the property owners to assist them to move all the homes as a group to a safe nearby location and this will be the first time, under our Planning Policy guidelines, that such an operation has been considered. Mother nature has made this an urgent issue and this Waveney scheme could lead the way in the UK by addressing the ever increasing threat of coastal erosion with an imaginative local solution," added Cllr Ritchie.