It was great to see so many of our partners, institutional advisers, and other interested parties at the General Meeting held at East Suffolk House on 21Sep23. This gathering was two meetings in one:

• a General Meeting to check that our Steering Group members were happy with the direction that the DEP was travelling, and to formally approve our (slightly revised) constitution and confirm Thomas Yeung and Colin Nicholson as Chair and Vice-Chair
• an Estuary Plan working meeting to discuss and agree the outline structure of the revised Estuary Plan, and to discuss and agree who would be best placed to contribute to each of the focus areas

The minutes of that meeting are available here, but in summary:

• the DEP constitution and Management Arrangements were formally approved and posted on the website
• Thomas Yeung and Colin Nicholson were confirmed in place as Chair and Vice-Chair
• the Sept 2023 Financial Report was reviewed and approved
• ten ‘focus areas’ (that will eventually be reflected in the structure of the revised Estuary Plan) were identified and agreed, and teams allocated to each
• we agreed that the next DEP meeting will take place on Thursday 18 January 2023 at East Suffolk House, and will be a public open meeting

The agreed Constitution and Management Arrangements have been published on the website, as well as the ten ‘focus areas’. We will list the lead person/organisation for each area once they have agreed to be named.

Transition Woodbridge and 5th Woodbridge Sea Scouts are coordinating a public River Clean on Saturday 16Sep23. Meet at the Scout hut at 12:30 – all equipment will be provided. And there is even the possibility of cake for the volunteers after the litter pick! We hope to see you there!

The PhotoPosts project is a collaborative monitoring and public engagement enterprise involving AONB Suffolk Coasts & Heaths, the Deben Estuary Partnership, Parish Councils, and coastal scientist Helene Burningham of UCL. With funding from Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB, aligning with their Landscape Lens project, PhotoPosts have been installed around the Deben estuary and local coastline to support the monitoring of coastal change and inform decision-making and coastal management.

There are photoposts on the Deben riverbank recording the same view of the opposite riverbank for coastal erosion research.  More pictures are needed, say the Transition Woodbridge team.

It’s easy to take part.  All you do is take a landscape photo (portrait has too much sky!) through the frame on the post and send it to debenphotoposts@gmail.com

There’s a post in Woodbridge by the Tide Mill and one near the Deben Vale Cafe along the towpath. 

All year round, all weathers, all tides – enjoy the view!

Prof Peter Hobson of Writtle led a ‘Green Infrastructure’ planning workshop for local parish councils and other interested parties (including DEP) at Waldringfield Village Hall on 30 August. This was a great opportunity to meet and work with many of our stakeholders and partner organisations in a structured process to collectively generate an action plan for the parishes in the Deben Estuary.

The event was well attended, and the following groups were represented:

Towns/Parishes of Brightwell, Foxhall & Purdis Farm, Hemley, Kesgrave, Martlesham, Melton, Newbourne, Rushmore St Andrew, Ufford, Woodbridge.

East Suffolk Council, Suffolk County Council, Suffolk Coast & Heaths AONB, Deben Estuary Partnership, Deben Soundings, Forestry Commission, Greenprint Forum, National Farmers Union (NFU), Taylor Wimpey- Brightwell Lakes, Suffolk Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (SFWAG), Suffolk Wildlife Trust, Suffolk Tree Warden Network, Upper Deben Farms, plus local farmers and growers from our community.

For me, one of the most interesting concepts that was discussed was a ‘Climate Focus Area’, which aligned very closely with the geographic area of the Deben Estuary….

Proposed geographic scope of the planning analysis – the ‘Climate Focus Area’

According to a BBC report, the Government has announced that it plans to scrap ‘disproportionate’ planning constraints that ‘have blocked thousands of homes being built in the UK’.

Under the current ‘Nutrient Neutrality’ legislation, developments in protected areas across England must show they will not cause any nutrients to seep into nearby water for new building projects to be granted nutrient neutral status before they can begin building – rather than allowing builders to mitigate the impact of their work across multiple developments.

Natural England lays down regulations for local planning authorities to ensure housebuilding achieves “nutrient neutrality”. This means that developments do not result in a net increase in nutrients which can damage habitats, estuaries and wildlife. To meet this condition, Natural England says extra nutrients created by additional wastewater need to be mitigated.

Baroness Scott, a junior minister in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), said the government recognised the need to protect freshwater habitats and rivers, and was tackling “underlying pollution”. But nutrient neutrality had placed a significant burden on housebuilders “despite the limited impact extra wastewater from residents in new developments has on waterbodies”, she added.

The Home Building Federation claim that agricultural run-off and the failure of water companies to upgrade infrastructure to cope with the growing population resulting in the dumping of raw sewage into rivers, are the root causes of the nutrients issue. They estimate that the contribution of all housing stock is less than 5%, so adding 120,000 homes to England’s stock of 25 million dwellings would lead to a negligible increase. They also point out that modern new builds are more water-efficient than older homes.

The DEP has not yet agreed a common position on this matter, but here is a link to a press release from the Save The Deben Campaign Group. We will be happy to post other viewpoints as we receive them.