Deben Estuary Partnership (DEP) is a partnership of statutory and community organisations as well as individuals working together towards common objectives:
To promote the
- Conservation
- Protection
- Improvement
of all aspects of the river Deben Estuary
With particular emphasis on the
- Physical and natural environment
- Provision of sea and river flood defence
The Deben Estuary Partnership (DEP) believes promoting better communication and ensuring that river communities and statutory organisations understand each other’s views.
Geographic Scope of the DEP
Extract from the first DEP Newsletter (Spring 2009) outlining the DEP’s ethos/objectives: –
“…Like the rest of the Suffolk coast our rivers will face many challenges in the coming years. Aware of the necessity to find a new and positive way of tackling such significant issues as sea level rise, increased visitor numbers and the thorny problem of maintaining river walls in good order, a small group of interested representatives came together last autumn to talk about how all those involved in the estuary could work together.
With the help and guidance of the River Deben Association, Suffolk Coast and Heaths Unit and Suffolk Coastal District Council, a successful Forum in November saw representatives of some 60 organisations, communities and landowners come together to learn what was happening elsewhere, to hear from the Environment Agency (EA) and to consider what is valued about the Deben Estuary. From that meeting the Deben Estuary Partnership is growing slowly and steadily.
The philosophy of the partnership will be to work with others and take a step by step constructive approach to dealing with the issues and problems that are identified. Maintenance of river walls has been seen as a first priority and EA representatives spent a chilly day on the river in February looking at sites, each suffering from a different kind of problem, and talking to landowners about how they could undertake repair work for which the EA no longer has adequate funding. Previously tricky and time consuming difficulties – such as the difference between maintenance and improvement – are being defined and resolved; a protocol and easy to use paper work will soon help landowners through the technical stages of applying for consent to undertake repairs. We see these initiatives as the very early stages of a new, more straightforward working partnership with the Environment Agency.
The Deben Estuary Partnership (DEP) believes promoting better communication and ensuring that river communities and statutory organisations understand each other’s views will be vital. At the Forum meeting last year many representatives of various groups said that they would like to be involved further. We hope gradually to draw these people into the debate on future strategies for the Estuary – it will be as important to work with bodies such as Natural England as it will be to appreciate the needs of those whose livelihoods are based on the water.
I trust this, our first newsletter, will tell you what we have done over recent months and give a flavour of the partnership ethos we believe will be all important in the future.
Christine Block
Chair, Deben Estuary Partnership…”
More information about the DEP is given on the DEP/Constitution page.
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