Work continues apace on the Plan to revise the Estuary Management Plan! It began with the recognisable first step – post-its on the wall!
It has progressed to a recognisable draft structure with the scope of each chapter now being developed. Names will be put in the frame and invitations to join the Editorial Teams sent out as soon as possible. We are working towards presenting progress so far in September at the next General Meeting.
At the Steering Group meeting of 26 June 2023, it was recognised by all present that the continued absence of the current Chair left the organisation largely directionless. So an Interim Chair and Vice Chair were appointed to lead the work for now, and they would be be confirmed or replaced at the next General Meeting, which will take place in September 2023.
Thomas Yeung – Interim Chair: Thomas has extensive experience in environmental consultancy, most recently as part of Coastal Partnership East. He is an enthusiastic sailor and Vice-Commodore of the Deben Yacht Club.
Colin Nicholson – Interim Vice Chair: Colin brings professional experience of information management and governance to the DEP and is the Co-Chair of the River Deben Association.
Dee McLeavy – Administrator: Having worked on the DEFRA Marine Pioneer Project and coordinated Going with the Flow/Tides and the Deben Estuary for Woodbridge Riverside Trust, Dee brings much experience of community engagement projects to the organisation.
The DEP Steering Group met at Martlesham Community Hall on 26 June 2023. Here are the minutes of that meeting that were emailed to participants on 07 July 2023:
Over the past five years the Deben Estuary Management Plan has informed planning and management decisions on the River Deben estuary. Much has changed, even over this short period, and the Deben Estuary Partnership is now embarking on a revision process to identify challenges faced on the estuary today and to bring the estuary plan up to date.
Preparation of a revised Deben Estuary Management Plan will involve a review of the themes and policies covered within the existing plan, but we also need to understand what additional topics should be included. As before, stakeholder engagement is essential to ensure that the revision process is inclusive, comprehensive and reflects key issues, concerns and changes.
The first, formal stage in the review process is the Scoping Report, which highlights existing objectives, sets out matters to be considered and updated, and identifies new areas that should be addressed.
To ensure that the revised Deben Estuary Management Plan is comprehensive, up to date, fit for purpose and able to be an effective tool for managing the Deben Estuary over the next five years we are seeking your views.
Please consider the issues identified in the Scoping Report, the justification for including them, and please identify any additional issues which need to be included in the document.
The scoping document can be downloaded here as a Word document, or reviewed online.
Please submit your feedback and responses to the questions via the online form or return the document to the email address given in the file.
Work to repair the flood defences at Felixstowe Ferry has been agreed and will take place before the end of 2021. The embankment suffered significant damage at during the winter of 2019-2020, and whilst the temporary measures of sand bags have been serving an interim purpose, the next step is to undertake works to replace these.
More information about this work is available in the Environment Agency factsheet that you can download here as a PDF document.
If you are interested in finding out more, contact details are available on the factsheet.
