THE COSTS
This will be a significant capital project, but calculations show that in economic terms alone, every £1 spent on upgrading the sea walls will return £4.10 of economic benefit.
The latest estimates (calculated in June 2022) are that the cost of the whole project will be £44.5 million, which includes a contingency of £13.7 million. The cost split between the two phases of the project are:
Phase 1 the Upper Estuary £12.2 million, including a contingency of £3.4 million
Phase 2 the Lower Estuary £32.3 million, including a contingency of £10.3 million.
We have funded the East Suffolk Water Management Board to produce cost estimates for the whole project, to improve the river wall embankments throughout the estuary.
The ESWMB has had to split the project in two (Phase 1 the Upper Estuary and Phase 2 the Lower Estuary) for technical reasons based on Environment Agency rules.
We have asked the ESWMB to apply for eligible grants from government and other sources to support this work. These grants are calculated based on a specific set of government funding rules (the ESWMB are very familiar with these formulae and have a lot of experience dealing with them).
So their calculations of the amount we can get are reliable. They forecast total grants available for the whole project to be £21.1 million. Split £11.1 million for phase 1 and £10.0 million for phase 2.
The Trust with farmers and landowners have the funds to close the funding gap for phase 1.
As you can see though, there will still be a £20 million total difference.
In January 2023 we received welcome confirmation that the ESWMB will get a grant allocation of £11.1 million from government (of which £3 million is from The Regional Flood And Coastal Committee local levy funding).
This is for Phase 1. It will be a 7 to 8 year project for the whole estuary. So it is good news that we can now start the work straight away.
The funding gap looks daunting. But it can be bridged. A feasibility study has concluded it is achievable.