King Charles III England Coast Path: Harwich to Shotley Gate
Find out about the progress of improving coastal access – including maps, process and timing – in Essex and Suffolk.
Map of the stretch
Natural England has begun to investigate how to improve coastal access along a 39 km stretch of the Essex and Suffolk coast between Harwich and Shotley Gate.
Officers from Essex County Council and 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 Wednesday 22 January 2020, 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 Harwich and Shotley Gate (HSG).
The period for making representations and objections about the reports closed at midnight, Wednesday 18 March 2020. 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).
Schedule 6 notice
On 25 July 2023, the inspector issued a schedule 6 notice in response to an objection they received concerning the proposals for land at Ray Lane, Ramsey to Stone Point, Wrabness (see report HSG2).
The inspector is minded to determine that Natural England’s proposals for this section of the route do not strike a fair balance.
The opportunity to make a representation on this objection closed on Tuesday 19 September 2023. The notice is still available to view.
The Secretary of State will consider all the representations and objections before making a decision about 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 (approved) |
|---|---|---|
| HSG 1: Harwich to Ray Lane, Ramsey | 31 August 2021 | |
| HSG 2: Ray Lane, Ramsey to Stone Point, Wrabness | yet to be determined | |
| HSG 3: Stone Point, Wrabness to Hopping Bridge, Mistley | yet to be determined | |
| HSG 4: Hopping Bridge, Mistley to Brantham Hall Farm | 31 August 2021 | |
| HSG 5: Brantham Hall Farm to Lower Holbrook | yet to be determined | |
| HSG 6: Lower Holbrook to Shotley Gate | 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 Essex and Suffolk County Councils 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 that 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.
Email: EssexCoastalAccess@naturalengland.org.uk
Telephone: 0208 026 5954
Post:
Coastal Access Team (Essex)
Natural England
Eastbrook
Shaftesbury Road
Cambridge
CB2 8DR
See the map below for information about progress on improving coastal access in other parts Essex.
Updates to this page
Last updated 25 July 2023 + show all updates
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Added paragraph about a schedule 6 notice issued in response to an objection received by the 'appointed person'.
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Added table showing the reports which make up the collection. Page updated to show that 2 of the 6 reports have received Secretary of State approval.
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Page updated to show this stretch is now at stage 4.
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Changed expected date for publication of the reports to early 2020.
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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 autumn 2019.
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Publication of report now expected in spring 2019. Access expected to be ready in 2020.
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Updated page to show that work on this stretch has reached stages 2 and 3.
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First published.