English Marine Plans

Mel Nicholls

16 Sept 2014

Legislative basis for marine planning and plans

MCAA

• Marine and Coastal Access Act provides legislative basis for a marine planning system

MPS

• Marine Policy Statement (SoS) is the framework for marine plans and taking decisions

Marine Plans

• Marine Plans (MMO) will translate the MPS into detailed policy and spatial guidance for each Marine Plan area to guide and direct decision-making ( ‘plan-led’ management including licensing)

Where and when

Areas/Boundaries • 11 plans

• Limit of tidal influence to ‘UK

limit’ (REZ/EEZ)

• Inshore out to 12nm, Offshore

>12nm

Overall timetable • Complete first cycle by 2021

• Rolling programme, assumed

two at a time

• Estimate 2 – 2.5 years for

each plan with overlap

• Evaluate ≤ 3-6 years

Review?

Setting a national context

• Strategic Scoping Report

– Understanding the uneven distribution of

activities and resources

– Relative importance of activities and

resources in each plan area

East Marine Plan Areas April 2011 to early 2014

• Main issues include – busy and

busier, offshore wind energy,

conservation, aggregates,

tourism and recreation, ports

and shipping, fishing etc.

• Two plans delivered through

one process

• First plans – ‘developing whilst

doing’ Flamborough Head to

Felixstowe =

area of 58,700km2

Equivalent to

- Dutch marine waters

- 40% England land area

... and that’s not all!

South Marine Plan Areas c.1000km of coastline from river Dart in Devon to Folkestone in Kent taking in c.20,000sq km of sea

Busy with a number of important sectors (e.g. significant shell fisheries, major ports and a high

shipping density, tourism and recreation), significant environmental interests (e.g. high proportion of

MPAs) and a large coastal fringe population

SPP and

stakeholder

engagement

Representation

period on draft

plan

Independent

investigation

Plan

adopted and

published

Implement,

monitor and

review

Identifying

issues

Gathering

evidence

Vision and

objectives

Options

development Plan policy

development

Plan area

selection

decision

Review plan

proposals

South

East

Planning Progress

EVIDENCE

Statement of Public Participation (SPP)

• Statutory requirement of the planning process

• Informs people of how and when they can be

involved

• Signed off by Secretary of State, Defra

• Indicates formal start of planning process

• Stakeholders inform content of SPP

• Matters to be included in marine plans

Stakeholder engagement – plan areas

Communications

• Website

• Blog

• Planning leaflets

• Email updates

• Marine planning models

• Stakeholder workshops

• Planning portal

• Implementation Officers

• Media

• UK Marine Planning Liaison Group

Stakeholder engagement in the East • Five series of stakeholder workshops attended by over 300

people

• 23 public drop-in sessions across the East for over 700 people

• Two reporting area and two decision-makers workshops

• ~400 one-to-one meetings with marine sector reps, such as,

offshore wind, fishing, recreation, aggregates, cabling, MPs etc

• Specific groups or fora, e.g. Local Authority elected members,

LGA SIG, IFCA, etc

• Local liaison officers based in Lowestoft and Grimsby met with

hundreds of local stakeholders, attending meetings and events

• International workshops with France, Belgium, Netherlands,

Germany, Denmark, Norway, Wales, European Commission

• Informal consultations on plan stages - more than 2,000

comments from 70 different organisations in 2012

• 106 responses, over 2000 comments via CONNECT, email

Strategy Document: Vision, Objectives,

Policies and Maps

Implementation

and Monitoring

Plan

Marine

Policy

Statement

Sustainability

Appraisal

(+ HRA)

Statement of

Public

Participation

Monitoring

Reports

National Plan Area

Guidance

Impact

Assessment

Marine Planning Components - Outputs

What do the East plans look like?

Executive summary

Chapter 1. Background

Chapter 2. Vision and objectives

Chapter 3. Policies – 38 altogether

- Objectives/thematic – 5 policy areas

- Sectoral – 12 policy areas

Chapter 4. implementation, monitoring, review and evidence

Plan policies:

i. general decision-making framework set out for public

authorities

ii. spatial or temporal constraints on activities

iii. methodological requirements to be considered in

determination of a proposal.

AGG1: Proposals in areas where

a licence for extraction of

aggregates has been granted or

formally applied for should not be

authorised unless there are

exceptional circumstances.

AGG2: Proposals within an area

subject to an Exploration and

Option Agreement with The

Crown Estate74 should not be

supported unless it is

demonstrated that the other

development or activity is

compatible with aggregate

extraction or there are exceptional

circumstances.

AGG3: Within defined areas of

high potential aggregate

resource, proposals should

demonstrate in order of

preference

a) that they will not, prevent

aggregate extraction

b) how, if there are adverse

impacts on aggregate extraction,

they will minimise these

c) how, if the adverse impacts

cannot be minimised, they will be

mitigated

d) the case for proceeding with

the application if it is not possible

to minimise or mitigate the

adverse impacts

What have we learned from the East?

• Great Expectations

• Local Hero

• LA Story

• Our House

• Meetings B***** Meetings

• Lea(d) on me.

• A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the

Forum

• Administration is not a dirty word

• Time is (not) on my side

• YOU’D BETTER, YOU’D BETTER, YOU BET