2014 06 mel nicholls
TRANSCRIPT
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