This qualitative research was commissioned by Suffolk County Council’s Public Health and Communities Directorate. It set out to explore the health, wellbeing, resilience and aspirations of Suffolk’s coastal communities. It is based on in-depth qualitative interviews in four coastal communities - Aldeburgh, Hollesley, Kessingland and Reydon - carried out August 2024 and January 2025.
SQW carried out a parallel analysis of official data looking at factors underpinning wellbeing and resilience in coastal Suffolk.
We found that the four communities we chose as our focus – Aldeburgh, Hollesley, Kessingland and Reydon - have more similarities than differences. Where there are contrasting perceptions among residents, these are related to a number of factors: geographic location; extent of geographical isolation; size of visitor economy and second-home ownership; planned and actual new housing development and large-scale infrastructure; and proximity to larger towns.
