Initial estimates are that government is likely to allocate around £25m to the region, compared to an “estimated need” of £44m (for capital projects). With some 63,000 properties at “significant risk” of sea, river or tidal flooding, and perhaps 200,000 properties at risk of surface water flooding, there is a huge amount of work to be done but not enough money to do it. “Significant risk” means more than a 1.3% (1 in 75) chance of flooding in any year.

The great unknown is the number and location of properties at risk from surface water flooding. As recent floods have shown, this can have a devastating effect. The Southern Region covers the area from Hampshire to Kent, which includes many towns, villages and hamlets that are at risk from surface water flooding. The cost of providing better protection could run into millions, and without any new money coming into the flood & coastal defence budget, this could draw money away from coastal defence as funds are used to deal with surface water flooding.

It is estimated that the so-called “PF score” needed by schemes to have any chance of getting a slice of government funding, will jump from a figure of  120%, to a figure of 200% . “PF scores” are complex – suffice to know that this is a significant increase, with the result that many defences that would have been considered for funding in the past, will now have no realistic chance of funding from central government. 

We will be keeping a close eye on the funding round, a complicated process that lasts until February 2013 for determining the 2013/14 budget.

The BBC quotes Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman as saying “the most important thing here is for the government to invest in flood defences. We have over £2bn to be spent on flood defences over the lifetime of this Parliamant and it will better protect 150,000 properties”. The BBC adds that Labour are saying the government is cutting more than £400m from flood defence spending over the next 4 years.

Whatever the party politics, at least this means flood & coastal defence funding is climbing up the political agenda.

The reality for the Manhood Peninsula is it lies within the Environment Agency’s Southern Region, where overall funding needs are £203.7m more than the money available, over the current 5-year spending period (2011/15). Funding pressure will increase, because from 2012 onwards new “Surface Water Management Plans” (SWMPs) will start to be completed by the County Councils.

County Councils were given new responsibilities under the Flood & Water Management Act 2010 , for dealing with surface water flooding (from this year they receive extra money from central government to produce SWMPs). Once completed, the SWMPs will identify fresh expenditure needed to deal with surface water floods of the type we have just experienced – but the overall funding pot for flood & coastal defence will not be increased.

In other words there will be even more calls on the money available, so the threshold for getting money for any flood or coastal defence scheme will have to rise significantly. This will mean that the need to get “partnership funding” (local contributions from private individuals, businesses, Parish & other councils) will increase, as more schemes fail to meet the threshold for 100% public funding and therefore require an injection of local cash to have any chance of getting a slice of public flood defence funds.

Meanwhile scores of families have had their homes flooded, and many people have had their cars damaged by water. We extend our sympathy to all those affected, as flood damage is extremely distressing, costly to remedy, and takes a long time to put right.

We have asked the Environment Agency to ensure the results of its investigation are made available in full to the public, and that they are a “warts and all” analysis. Nobody wants to see a repeat of this week’s problems so it is in everyone’s interests that the problems are identified, solutions put forward, and that a good case is made for any additional funding needed from the relevant authorities. It’s important to recognise that many parts of the South have been affected by the flooding so, as always, there will be more calls for funding than there is money available.

A new beach hundreds of metres wide will be created later this summer, when the gap between the two breakwaters is filled with sand and shingle.

This project is not just a coastal defence that will protect the holiday parks at Selsey (significantly important businesses which employ over 300 people and contribute over £50m pa to the local economy). It also has the potential to significantly change the tourist economy of the area and Selsey in particular, through the creation of the new, sheltered, very large sandy beach close to parking and visitor facilities.

For more information see our earlier news item on this project.

93,000 tonnes of rock boulders are being shipped from Norway to the Medmerry frontage at Selsey. This compares to a total of only 23,000 tonnes being used in the adjacent £7m Environment Agency Medmerry realignment scheme.

The Bunn Leisure scheme involves buiding two rock breakwaters with a new shingle/sand beach between them. For more details go to the special website  Bunn Leisure has set up to give breaking news & photos of the scheme as it progresses (including a beach webcam).

The final recommended proposals will be sent to DEFRA in July, then considered by DEFRA and put out to the public consultation in December 2012.

Following the wide criticism the proposals and MCZ process has attracted, we hope that the phraseology in this announcement indicates that DEFRA will genuinely respond to grassroots concerns regarding the MCZs – particularly the inshore ones such as those around the Manhood Peninsula.

So far the MCZ process has been presented by DEFRA’s PR  machine as a well-resourced, highly inclusive, consultative operation – but this is simply not the experience of most grassroots organisations involved in coastal defence, angling and boating that have tried to engage in the MCZ process.

We will be continuing to call for changes to the proposals that reduce the potential negative impact of the MCZs on local coastal defence operations, marine leisure & tourism interests, sustainable fisheries and our coastal economy. We believe that these interests can and should be protected, and that it is quite possible to create a viable number of MCZs without seriously affecting them.

See our MCZ Resource page for further information.

It also means the funding year is about to start again. Every flood or coastal risk body in England will be working on its list of schemes that it would like funded (called the “Medium Term Plan) in 2013-14. Each one submits its MTP to the Environment Agency in the summer, which then has to whittle the list down according the limited funds available. 

Funding for capital projects in our region (the South) will be £39.9m in 2012-13 (but will fall to an estimated £27.6m in 2013-14).

The seven local schemes are: Bosham Sea Wall repairs; Medmerry Managed Realignment; West Wittering Flood Banks; Selsey-East Wittering Beach Management Plan; Pagham Beach Erosion Management Option; Arun to Pagham Beach Management Plan; Emsworth to East Head Coastal Defence Scheme. The term “scheme” in this context also includes research work to help understand coastal processes or in preparation for engineering works.

Two further important schemes for the area are on the shortlist for potential funding. The first is a major sediment transport study, which will provide vital information for the better & more cost-effective recycling of shingle in the Solent area. The second is a study of “Extreme Waves” – a combination of wind- and swell-waves. This phenomenon is little-understood but recent work by SCOPAC suggests that extreme waves occur in our area, and may mean that some of our defences are under-engineered (so that flood risk from a breach of our coastal defences is greater than anticipated in local flood risk plans).

The Bosham and Selsey-E Wittering schemes are on the list only because schemes in other parts of the country that were earmarked for funding dropped out due to the inability to raise local funding, cost over-runs or other factors  which lowered their “Partnership Funding Score” . This is the the points system whereby government funding is allocated to the most cost-effective schemes only: schemes need to achieve a score of 120% or more to have a realistic chance of funding.

Sadly there are many more schemes than money available. Where schemes which were anticipated to get 120%+ don’t achieve it, they fall back down the list and a few lucky schemes that are ready to be implemented and have enough points are raised up in their place, in the last few months before the final decision on the year’s funding. This process is called the “over programme” . In the Southern Region, the Regional Flood & Coastal Committee has carefully targeted its resources to ensure some of the schemes in the Region are advanced enough to be put into this “over-programme”.

We will report the outcome of the Environment Agency Board meeting in due course. The schemes in our area all have a strong PF score and will deliver significant benefits & value-for-money, if approved by the Board for funding in 2012-13.

The gabions, which had broken open over time, have been refilled with rock and re-sealed. The beach has also been “reprofiled” (the shingle on it has been spread more evenly, including the base of the gabions – which are then less vulnerable to wave attack).

When the gabions reach the end of their useful life, and repairs are not longer economic, capital funding will be needed to replace them. The BMP funds are for maintenance – not capital – works. The government now expects “local contributions” towards capital works, especially for erosion prevention schemes. Without local financial contributions there is usually no government financial help.

The Selsey community has formed a Coastal Trust (a community enterprise) which wants to undertake some regeneration projects that generate income, which will be used to lever-in government capital funding for Selsey’s coast defences. MPSG supports this initiative as it is clear that local funding will be necessary when, sadly but inevitably, coastal defences need replacing.