The Alde and Ore Estuary Partnership

What is the Estuary Partnership? 

The Alde and Ore Estuary Partnership, was created in May 2012 as a new model to enable local communities to take over the management of their flood defences (see The Secretary of State for the Environment, Richard Benyon, on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNsETJjBVhQ )

For all of us who live, work and visit this very special area, the river defences play a defining role on our estuary and local economy. It is not just those who live in the flood plain who would be affected but our whole way of life, businesses, property and tourism would all be at risk should the walls breach as they did in 1953.

What does the partnership aim to achieve and how will I benefit?

It is estimated some £12Million will be required to upgrade our defences to withstand surge tides. We hope everyone feels part of our endeavor to maintain the defences, as without convincing local commitment we may fail to meet our aims.

Who is involved?

The Partnership was set up to cover all interests in the estuary: parish councillors, farmers and landowners, ecological interests, householders and the Alde and Ore Association represent a wide variety of community interests. The Environment Agency, Suffolk County and District Council, Natural England and the ANOB unit all advise the partnership.

What has been done so far?

Under the Chairmanship of Sir Edward Greenwell Bt, since May 2012 the management of the estuary has been agreed as defined in the Final Estuary Plan see here: http://aoep.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/AOEP-Estuary-web.4.compressed.pdf and endorsed by the statutory authorities in June 2016.   Work has already commenced at Snape and on the Aldeburgh Marsh wall (Phase 1 completed).   Modelling of the whole estuary has recently been completed to assess flood risk and impact on intertidal areas and creation opportunities.  There will be a full community meeting in Spring 2018 (see dates below) to discuss the various schemes proposed and a more refined phased and costed programme of the necessary flood defence work.

How can I get involved?

Only around £2million will be available from government funding, the remainder will have to be raised by the community, charity applications and potentially a HLF application.  Please contact the AOEP on aoep.contact@gmail.com  if you would like to offer help with IT, design & support for the website and newsletters or more practical help monitoring the saltmarsh trials. Fundraising is managed by The Estuary Trust, please contact aoetrust@gmail.com if you have any ideas on how to raise funds or if you would like to help in organizing events such as the Big Pub Quiz.

See our film here presented by Nick Robinson http://aoep.co.uk/index.php/sos-estuary-trailer

www.aoep.co.uk and www.aoetrust.org

Photo by Tony Pick www.tonypickphotography.co.uk