King Charles III England Coast Path: Bawdsey to Aldeburgh
Find out about the progress of improving coastal access – including maps, process and timing – in Suffolk.
Map of the stretch
Natural England has begun to investigate how to improve coastal access along a 62km stretch of the Suffolk coast between Bawdsey and Aldeburgh.
Officers from Suffolk County Council are providing Natural England with expert local advice and helping to make sure there is full consultation with local interests during the development of the route.
Stage of progress
Stage 4: Determine
On 3 February 2021 Natural England submitted a collection of reports to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs setting out the proposals for improved access to the coast between Bawdsey and Aldeburgh.
The period for making representations and objections about the report closed at midnight on Wednesday 31 March 2021. The reports are still available to view.
Objections are forwarded for consideration by an independent planning inspector appointed by the Secretary of State. The inspector will make recommendations to the Secretary of State in respect of each one.
Natural England may not make any further changes to the reports as a result of the representations and objections, but will make comments about them for consideration by the Secretary of State and, in the case of objections, the appointed person (an inspector from the Planning Inspectorate).
The Secretary of State will consider all the representations and objections before making a decision about each of Natural England’s reports. The reports in the collection may get approval at the same time. Some of them may need further consideration.
You can see the current status of the collection in the table.
| Report number and title | Stage 4 | Stage 5 |
|---|---|---|
| BSA 1: Bawdsey Quay (picnic site) to Butley Ferry (west side) | yet to be determined | |
| BSA 2: Butley Ferry crossing (west side) to Orford Quay | yet to be determined | |
| BSA 3: Orford Quay to Ferry Lane (track) | 11 November 2021 | |
| BSA 4: Ferry Lane (track) to Hazlewood Marshes car park | yet to be determined | |
| BSA 5: Hazlewood Marshes car park to Aldeburgh | yet to be determined |
Next steps
Stage 5: Open
Once the Secretary of State has approved 1 or more of the reports, Natural England will start work with Suffolk County Council on preparing the route for public use.
The first step will be to contact owners and occupiers of the affected land to discuss the design and location of any new infrastructure which is required, such as signs and gates.
When preparations are complete, new access rights will be brought into force along the route and adjoining spreading room.
Find out more about the England Coast Path
See information about all stretches in preparation around England’s coast.
The coastal access scheme gives details of the process being followed to improve access to the coast.
Contact the coastal access team
Contact Natural England with any comments, suggestions or queries you have about improving coastal access.
King Charles III England Coast Path delivery team (East)
Natural England
Eastbrook
Shaftesbury Road
Cambridge
CB2 8DR
Email eastcoastalaccess@naturalengland.org.uk
Telephone 0300 060 3900
See the map below for information about progress on improving coastal access in other parts of the East of England.
Updates to this page
Last updated 11 November 2021 + show all updates
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Added table showing the reports which make up the collection. Page updated to show that 1 of the 5 reports has received Secretary of State approval.
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Page updated to show this stretch is now at stage 4.
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Removed the sentence giving a date for when access is expected to be ready. Publication of the report is expected in winter 2020.
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Publication of report now expected in autumn 2019.
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Updated page as stretch is now at stage 2/3.
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First published.