Working on behalf of the The Eastern Solent Coastal Partnership (ESCP) we applied a variety of tools to assess the wider benefits and Gross Value Added (GVA) valuation for a £100m coastal protection scheme in Southsea. This was required to provide evidence to support applications for partnership funding, bringing the client a step closer to unlocking funding.
Portsmouth City Council require funding contributions and wider investment to meet the funding shortfall to enable delivery of the iconic scheme. This required assessment of broader outcomes as well as local and regional economic benefit valuation to provide the necessary evidence base and holistic business case needed to support applications to other funding streams such as the Local Enterprise Partnership.
By applying our Local Economic Valuation of Impacts (LEVI) and our Ecosystem Services: Identification, Valuation and Integration (ESIVI) tools, as well as wider industry best practice, we assessed and quantified a range of wider benefits that the scheme will deliver over and above flood protection - including heritage, business (such as GVA), health and wellbeing, tourism and recreation, and environmental benefits. As part of this we also produced a concise Economic Footprint and GVA report.
Using our unique tools, we were able to show that without the proposed scheme, flooding would prevent businesses from operating for substantial periods of time, with resultant pressure on jobs and detrimental impacts to the local economy. The benefit assessment also captured and monetarised key broader outcomes of the scheme which was used to bolster the business case and encourage greater political, public and stakeholder support for the project.
The valuation of local and regional economic benefits, totaling over £4.9bn over the next 50 years, provided the evidence base required to support a funding application to the Local Enterprise Partnership.