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88-Year-Old Widow Fights to Save Clifftop Home from Coastal Erosion
19 Aug
Summary
- 88-year-old widow fears her £1 million home may fall off a cliff due to worsening coastal erosion
- Resident's garden wall collapsed earlier this year, and a neighboring home was demolished in 2022
- Residents are trying to secure permission for rock-filled cages to slow erosion, but face bureaucratic hurdles
In the coastal village of Thorpeness, Suffolk, an 88-year-old widow named Jean Flick is in a desperate battle to save her £1 million clifftop home from being claimed by the sea. Flick has lived in the property for 25 years, but in recent years, coastal erosion has significantly worsened, with a large section of her garden wall collapsing and tumbling onto the beach below earlier this year.
Flick's situation is not unique, as several of her neighbors are also facing the prospect of losing their homes to the crumbling cliffs. In 2022, a £2 million property in the village was deemed unsafe and had to be demolished. Now, Flick and her daughter Frances Paul are working with other residents to try and secure permission for rock-filled cages, known as gabions, to be placed at the foot of the cliffs in an effort to slow the erosion.
However, the process has been slow and fraught with bureaucratic hurdles. Flick has been told that if the cliff edge comes within 5 meters of her home, the property will have to be demolished, with no compensation provided. "Without any compensation, where do you buy a house with nothing?" Flick laments. "Your home is gone and it's just devastating really."
The local Shoreline Management Plan for the area allows for measures to slow, but not stop, the erosion, leaving Flick and her neighbors in a precarious position. As the cliffs continue to crumble, the race is on to find a solution before more homes are lost to the sea.
