36. Could a smaller concrete (e.g. 0.6m) wall be installed now with a view to placing glass panels on top should sea level rise occur as predicted and would this give greater flexibility in the event that sea level rise was not as predicted now?
Yes and no. It’s all down to funding. Funding is based on benefits of homes not flooding and its all based on statistics. At the moment, funding is quite tight, and the scheme gets a lot of its benefits from protecting property above its final design standard (as the standard of protection drops in time due to sea level allowance) early on its in life. These benefits are what generate the funding. Both benefits in the future are discounted, so they are not worth as much. Therefore we need to claim as many benefits early on, to get the required funding. If we delay when these benefits can be claimed (by reducing the standard of protection, by reducing the height of the splash defence) we risk losing a lot of funding eligibility.