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<p>The Government is investing £5.6 billion between 2021 and 2027 to better protect
communities across England from flooding and coastal erosion, including around £1.3billion
for defences along the coast. This investment includes a record £5.2 billion capital
investment programme, a £200 million Flood and Coastal Innovation Programme (FCIP),
£170 million for economic recovery from flooding and over £30 million of funding for
flood incident management.</p><p> </p><p>It is not always sustainable or affordable
to defend every part of our coastline in the face of a changing climate which is enhancing
the coastal erosion process. This is why we have allocated £36m over 6 years, for
the ‘Coastal Transition Accelerator Programme’ (CTAP), as part of FCIP, to support
communities in coastal areas at significant risk of erosion to adapt.</p><p> </p><p>Coastal
protection authorities are best placed to understand their coastline and to develop
the most appropriate approaches to manage risk through Shoreline Management Plans
(SMPs) and their local planning policies. The Environment Agency (EA) work closely
with Coastal Partnership East to monitor and deliver the Suffolk SMP to support the
management of flooding and erosion on the Suffolk coast.<em> </em> This includes delivery
by East Suffolk Council and partners of the FCIP <em>‘</em><a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fengageenvironmentagency.uk.engagementhq.com%2Fesf008-coastal&data=05%7C02%7Cpqteam%40defra.gov.uk%7C87aaa9bb271c44b6b76408dc5ed3b801%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C638489510687447237%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=EA2s2Q2yBkt0Ls3L8HAWDSBpqRWPFwDwqXLEoUtkF%2FY%3D&reserved=0"
target="_blank"><em>Resilient Coasts</em></a> project as well as the recent completion
of a £2.3 million project protecting Felixstowe Ferry. The EA are supporting the East
Suffolk Water Management Board to deliver the £12.2 million Upper Alde and Ore Estuary
Project, which will protect Snape and Aldeburgh, and are also working with partners
to develop projects for Pakefield, Southwold and Thorpeness.</p><p> </p><p>The Government
is committed to improving the quality of our bathing waters. Almost 90% of bathing
waters in England met the highest standards of ‘Good' or ‘Excellent’ in 2023, up from
just 76% in 2010 and despite the classification standards becoming stricter in 2015.
Suffolk has 7 designated bathing waters; last season 5 were classified as ‘Excellent’,
1 was classified as ‘Good’ and 1 was classified as ‘Poor’. The Environment Agency
assesses what action is needed to improve water quality to meet the standards set
by the Bathing Water Regulations. Action plans are in place at all ‘Poor’ bathing
waters, including the River Deben Estuary, Waldringfield in Suffolk. This includes
investigations into pollution sources and visits to farms and water company assets.</p>
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