NEW DEP CHAIR WANTED – 29th July 2026

Following the current Chair-elect taking a job abroad, the Deben Estuary Partnership is seeking a new Chair.  If you are interested in finding out more about the role, do please contact the DEP Vice-Chair at Vice-Chair@debenestuarypartnership.org

The work of the Chair

The Chair’s work is essentially about leading and representing the organisation from within. In simple terms there are 4 SG meetings a year, including an AGM, but in reality, it is about gently directing the Partnership’s activity and a broader representational role of engaging with all the stakeholders and agencies. This is leadership with ‘soft power’. Everyone involved with the river and the estuary are, without exception, deeply passionate about safeguarding the estuary for generations to come. There is a very strong sense of community and service, but it is also a very disparate community, that does need to have a sense of collaboration and cohesion. Vested interests are all very well, but the Chair must make sure that all parties in the Partnership pull together to a common aim, and that the organisation is perceived as being strong, unified, relevant and respected.

More information is contained within the document ‘The Role of the DEP Chair’

Deben Estuary Police and Wildlife Wise Patrol Day, 11th October 2025 L-R Colin Nicholson (RDA Chair); PC Colin Taylor; Thomas Yeung (DEP Chair)

New Poem Out: A Saltmarsh Poem – 16th July 2026

This poem was originally conceived as a locative app to make scientific understanding of saltmarsh dynamics more accessible for the communities of the Taf Estuary in Carmarthenshire and the Mawddach Estuary in Snowdonia.

Link to poem and video with words spoken by Philip Brett King

The context for this was ‘CoastWeb’, an academic research project to explore community perceptions of saltmarsh that ran between 2017-2021. It now exists as a poem and an audio version spoken by Welsh voice actors and as a Welsh language translation.

This is an edited version produced for the Environment Agency’s ‘ReMeMaRe’ conference July 2026.

Acknowledgements: CoastWeb research project, ‘Valuing Nature Programme’, UKRI

Booklet released: ‘A Place at the Table – Community Engagement on the Deben Estuary’ – 19th March 2026

A beautifully illustrated account of a Deben Estuary Partnership research initiative that was facilitated by the Environment Agency’s 3Cs fund and co-ordinated by Helene Burningham, Professor of Physical Geography UCL and Simon Read, Associate Professor of Fine Art, Middlesex University London and Deben Estuary Partnership trustee.

The project sought to identify strategies for community engagement on the Deben estuary and adjacent coastline, encourage stewardship activities and a higher level of community participation in the estuary management process

The 3C‘s: Championing Coastal Coordination

Link to the new booklet

The Rabble Chorus on Waldringfield beach
Ancient fishing? sticks revealed after beach stripped of shingle – East Lane

DEP Steering Group visits site of Waldringfield erosion – 12th March 2026

The Deben Estuary Partnership held its latest Quarterly Meeting Waldringfield Sailing Club on 12th March and viewed the erosion that has been successfully repaired.

For more information about the repairs, please see the 6th March RDA Journal item about erosion in the Estuary, at Bawdsey, Waldringfield and Ufford. https://www.riverdeben.org/rda-journal/erosion-on-the-deben-bawdsey-waldringfield-ufford/#more-10318