Jean Flick, 88, has lived at the seaside property in Thorpeness, Suffolk for 25 years and said she hopes to stay as long as it is safe to do so
An elderly widow whose home on the edge of a cliff in a beautiful seaside village is at risk of collapsing into the sea has been told nothing will be done to save it. Jean Flick, 88, says she will stay living in the house for as long as it is safe before considering demolishing it and then faces the prospect of either living in a caravan or tent.
Jean, who has resided in her seaside property in Thorpeness, Suffolk, which can take just over two hours to drive to from East London, for a quarter of a century, expressed her desire to stay as long as it remains safe. “I’m just waiting in hope there’s no high tides,” said the widow, who hails from a farming family. “We had a hell of a good storm the other night but we’re still standing.”
In 2022, another house on her street was demolished, but Ms Flick had held out hope that it might be possible to construct defences at the base of the cliffs to slow down the coastal erosion. However, she revealed: “We were more or less told nothing will be done and we can’t do anything.
“We’ve had the chap round to look at the demolition, and… he says we’re more or less at the end. It’s a case of wait and see, hope the tides are not high and they’ll review it again in the new year.”
She was informed that the machinery required to build sea defences would not be able to reach the foot of the cliffs. “It’s the fact they can’t get along basically I think to get to it,” Ms Flick explained.
“They’ve got to come in down the bottom end and they can’t get along with the machinery. One of the things they’re saying is the machinery, the heavy machinery will damage the land coming up and they’re not happy with that so we’re more or less on our own and wait for the inevitable.”
When asked if she planned to stay as long as it was safe, she responded: “Yes, that’s what I’m hoping.” She revealed that another portion of land had recently collapsed. Adding to this, she said: “You might see me in a caravan or a tent up on the common.”
Ms Flick tied the knot again in 1999 following the death of her first husband due to cancer and later purchased the Thorpeness home with her second husband for a new beginning. She expressed they were “very happy” there before her second husband also succumbed to cancer.
Ms Flick has been informed that if the cliff edge approaches within five metres of the house, the property will need to be knocked down. She confessed her “heart will just break” if that occurs “because it’s my home”.
“Your home is gone and it’s just devastating really,” she stated. The house, constructed in 1928, originally had five bedrooms, but one has since been converted into a sitting room to enjoy the sea view.
The property is approximately two miles south of Sizewell, where a new nuclear power station is under construction. Ms Flick recalled that Storm Babet in 2023 “really ravaged” the cliffs.
The Shoreline Management Plan, devised by organisations including the Environment Agency and the local authority, advocates managed realignment for this stretch of coast. This implies that measures may be permitted that slow, but do not halt, the erosion.
An East Suffolk Council spokesperson stated: “East Suffolk Council’s building control team has met with the owner of the property to discuss a plan, to avoid emergency evacuations where possible, should critical safety levels be reached. We want to allow occupiers the longest possible time in their property, while prioritising safety.
“The point at which they may be required to vacate on safety grounds depends on factors including practicalities of access for safe property removal. Although contractors are unable to safely carry out works during the short tidal windows this autumn, plans for a short-term intervention will be reviewed in the spring, depending on post-winter conditions.”
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