I've just had a look at the guidelines for submission for the competition and I don't see that it needs a lot of money spent on it.
The submission needs two hard copies (one for Liz, one for Phil?
) consisting of 5 A4 pages of introduction to make the case, 20 A4 pages profiling the area, 50 photos printed two to an A4 page to show details of the area, and two maps showing the city centre and surrounding areas.
The guidelines say that the process is designed to minimise the expense involved in making a submission, and even down to the quality of the photos which can be on normal, not photo, paper and should be factual not artistic. The information for the 20 pages of profile and maps should be at someone's fingertips if not already available online.
All that is then needed is some commitment and creative thinking to make the case.
No great spend on promotion is needed - it might have been in previous competitions but doesn't seem to be the case in this one.
http://www.culture.gov.uk/images/publications/Civic-Honours-Entry-Guidelines.pdf