Financial analysis

Option 3 provides over £80 million worth of benefits to people, property and the environment. The additional benefits associated with Option 4 and Option 5 are not as great. The figure below shows the cost to construct Option 3 is significantly less compared with Option 4 and Option 5. Increasing the height of the sea wall almost doubles the cost of the scheme. The public consultation told us that there is interest locally in raising the height of the existing defences however the funding shortfall of £4.9million and £8.5million for Option 4 and Option 5 respectively makes these unviable options for Isle of Wight Council to take forward.

Information on how Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management schemes are funded can be found here

How will the shortfall in funding for the preferred option be addressed?

Isle of Wight Council as the owner of the coastal defences will develop a funding strategy to address the shortfall in funding with support from the Environment Agency. The funding strategy will be produced during the Full Business Case stage in 2025. Project costs are expected to change following more detailed costings from our contractor.