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Draft North East, North West, South East, South West Marine Plan consultation
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The consultation on the Draft North East, North West, South East and South West Marine Plans ran from 14 January to 20 April 2020. This included a two-week extension to allow stakeholders to respond while simultaneously adjusting to the current health emergency. The public consultation is the culmination of the marine planning process to develop the draft marine plans, which commenced in 2016.
We received over 200 responses containing over 6,000 comments across the four draft marine plans. Responses came from a wide range of sectors including local authorities, ports and harbours, environmental groups, inshore fisheries and conservation authorities, government departments and the general public. A Consultation Summary will be produced and published soon. It will provide a broad outline of the consultation process and number of responses by sector and policy.
We will now carry out a detailed analysis of all comments received to determine what amendments will be made to each of the marine plans. We will follow-up with stakeholders where necessary over the summer to clarify understanding. We will then make the necessary amendments to each of the four marine plans and associated assessments (Sustainability Appraisal and Habitats Regulations Assessment) with the aim of submitting the amended plans to the Secretary of State for adoption in autumn. This will be supported by a “Modifications Report” which will detail the amendments made to each draft plan, its vision, policies and supporting text in response to comments received.
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Second Three-Year Report on the East Marine Plans published
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The East Marine Plans were adopted in April 2014. It is a statutory requirement under Sections 54 and 61 of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 to keep under review wider changes in context and monitor the effectiveness and effects of the plan policies as well as progress towards achieving the plan objectives and the High Level Marine Objectives (HLMOs) of the Marine Policy Statement. Findings must be reported on at intervals of no more than three years.
The second Three-Year Report has been produced by the Marine Planning team and was laid before Parliament and published online by Defra at the end of March.
The Three-Year Report on the East Marine Plans can be found here.
The report is structured in relation to monitoring of context, process and outcomes. Context considers changes to the setting in which marine plans operate and covers key characteristics and uses of the marine plan area and any relevant legislation. Process takes into consideration the implementation of the marine plans. Outcome monitoring assesses the progress towards real world changes resulting from the marine plans’ objectives and policies. Conclusions from the sections are now summarised.
Context:
The report found that there have been significant changes in the use of the east marine plan areas over the last three years, including an increase in the number of Marine Protected Areas and an increase in offshore wind development. There have also been significant changes in national policy and the political landscape, such as the adoption of the 25 Year Environment Plan and the UK’s planned exit from the European Union. Development of other marine plans also highlights a number of policy gaps in the East Marine Plans, including areas such as marine litter and water quality.
Process:
In the last three years, there has been a demonstrable increase in the consideration of the East Marine Plans by those that apply for marine licences and through the MMO marine licence consenting process. Evidence for this trend was obtained from marine licence applications and survey results completed by external stakeholders. A review of terrestrial plans that have been developed or updated since 2017 also indicated that a greater number of local plans are taking the East Marine Plans into consideration. However, there is scope for greater alignment between marine plans and the terrestrial planning system.
Outcome:
The improved approach to monitoring, adopted since the first review in 2017, has enabled a better evaluation of the East Marine Plans as it was possible to consider policy effectiveness for the first time. Progress was shown towards 10 of the 11 objectives in the East Marine Plans, which is an improvement on the first Three-Year Report. The relationship between plan objectives and HLMOs suggests that the East Marine Plans are contributing towards most, if not all, of the HLMOs. Findings demonstrate that various policies in the East Marine Plans are having a positive effect.
However, the report also identified a number of limitations with plan use and monitoring, as well as with plan content. Work is ongoing to improve plan use and monitoring efforts, whereas issues with plan content need to be addressed through a process of amending or replacing the plans.
With evidence provided in support of our recommendation, the Secretary of State has made the decision that the East Marine Plans will be amended or replaced. This will improve how they meet the UK vision of “clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse oceans and seas”. The MMO will develop drafts of the revised East Marine Plans, using the marine planning process, consulting with stakeholders at the appropriate times.
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East and South monitoring surveys
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In January, we launched our monitoring surveys for the East and South Marine Plans. These annual surveys are an opportunity for stakeholders to tell us how they think adopted marine plans are performing. Following the close of these surveys, we will now run follow-up verification interviews with selected stakeholders to draw out case studies of how marine plans are being applied. The verification interviews gather detailed qualitative data that can provide, for example, industry-specific insights into plan use. The survey and verification interview information feeds into our monitoring approach and informs our three-yearly reports on adopted plans. The next three-yearly report is due in July 2021 and is the first for the South Marine Plans, which were adopted in July 2018.
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Implementation Phase 2
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Once they were published for statutory consultation the Draft North East, North West, South East and South West Marine Plans became material considerations in decision making processes. To ensure that organisations understand their statutory obligations with respect to the marine plans, coastal planners delivered marine plan implementation training to decision-makers during January to March. Coastal planners visited Local Planning Authorities, Ports and Harbour Authorities, Coastal Forums, government departments and devolved administrations. The training consisted of the marine planning development process so far, section 58 of the Marine and Coastal Access Act and its implications for decision-making, a policy walkthrough, a tutorial of the new Explore Marine Plans digital service, and details on the public consultation.
Implementation training was delivered to the majority of decision makers, however, due to social distancing measures instigated by Covid-19, some training sessions were postponed. In order to ensure that stakeholders have the information they need to effectively apply the marine plans, the Marine Planning team has recorded an implementation training webinar which has been uploaded to the MMO YouTube channel.
Once the marine plans have been formally adopted, the Marine Planning team will be providing further implementation training to organisations that will use the marine plans in their decision-making in the north west, north east, south east and south west marine plan areas. Additionally, the Marine Planning team would like to extend the offer of training to include refresher implementation training to those decision-makers in the adopted marine plan areas (South Marine Plans and East Marine Plans).
If your organisation would like to register your interest in this training, please contact your local marine planner (see details at the end of this Newsletter) to discuss opportunities:
- North East: Clare McCarty
- North West: Charlie Gill
- South East: Georgie Sutton
- South West: Abby Haines and Alex Curd
- South: Carter Rippon
- East: Georgie Sutton
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Enhancing Stakeholder Engagement Project Overview
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Enhancing Stakeholder Engagement is a European Maritime and Fisheries Fund project that started in 2017. It consists of two main phases, the first of which was the commission of a consultancy firm, Nomensa, to investigate stakeholders’ awareness, understanding, experience and views of past communications and engagement in marine planning. They also investigated stakeholders’ drivers, motivations and general ability to engage in marine planning in both current and future contexts. A full report was produced in October 2019 and can be found here. The second phase involved working closely with nine coastal partnerships to engage so called “hard-to-reach” stakeholders and to improve efforts to engage on cross-border planning issues (three of the eight partnerships share a border with Scotland and/or Wales). Each partnership has delivered three rounds of work to engage hard-to-reach stakeholders and those sharing a border will each deliver two additional pieces of work.
The project was scheduled to conclude in March 2020, but due to the effect of Covid-19 it has been extended to August 2020 to allow final pieces of work to take place. Nevertheless, 2020 has seen several pieces of work delivered, including the creation of a new implementation animation for the south marine plan areas, a poster campaign for the north west marine plan areas and the delivery of the Marine Management Organisation’s version of the Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) Challenge board game produced by the Dutch Government. In addition, we are pleased to welcome the Yorkshire Coast Marine Nature Partnership as the ninth coastal partnership on the project. They will be providing stakeholders in the east and north east marine plan areas with an opportunity to play the MSP Challenge game.
The lessons learnt from all the hard work of the coastal partnerships is invaluable and has influenced our engagement since the project began in 2017. Most recently we have used lessons on the use of social media and leaflets to advertise the Draft North East, North West, South East and South West Marine Plans’ Consultation (see above article). No doubt we will continue to learn and to use them for future engagement including for the Modifications Report which will be produced once the four amended marine plans are adopted.
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Marine Planning Evidence update
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The MMO has recently published a number of evidence projects that support the work of marine planning and is currently working towards completing other projects that are published on our public evidence register.
An Approach to Seascape Sensitivity Assessment (MMO1204)
The aim of the seascape sensitivity assessment is to help stakeholders assess the sensitivity of Marine Character Areas/ Seascape Character Areas to defined development types and scales of change incorporating the consideration of seascape quality and value.
Mapping Recreational Sea Anglers in English Waters (MMO1163)
The aim of this project is to create high resolution maps of recreational sea angling activity using all relevant data (angling literature, directed surveys, and local/fisher knowledge) which can be used for marine spatial planning and managing impacts on marine protected areas.
Identification of areas of aquaculture potential in English waters (MMO1184)
The aim of this project is to identify “Strategic areas of sustainable aquaculture production” throughout English marine plan areas, the outputs of which aim to improve spatial specificity of aquaculture policies by delineating areas where opportunities for aquaculture are protected. The project brings together three components of work considering 14 species of commercial interest. The first two are supported by Cefas and look at:
i) the environmental and physical conditions that constrain the biological viability of an area for growth;
ii) the environmental conditions prohibitive to establishing aquaculture infrastructure or operations; and
iii) (supported by The Crown Estate) other uses of the marine area that either exclude or reduce the suitability of an area for aquaculture (hard and soft planning constraints).
Spatial modelling in ArcGIS integrated these components into a single output layer which is currently displayed on Explore Marine Plans and supported by individual species’ spatial suitability layers.
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Mariner Planners – updates from around the coast
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North East
Throughout the period of public consultation on the Draft North East Marine Plan, Clare McCarty has been engaging with stakeholders throughout the North East and delivering marine plan implementation training to decision-makers. Clare has visited local planning authorities, harbour authorities and other decision-makers from East Riding of Yorkshire to northern Northumberland. Training has been delivered to over 170 council officers in the North East, including those from planning policy and development management. Clare would like to thank those who attended implementation training sessions for their participation and for providing invaluable discussions and feedback.
North West
Since joining the team in November, Charlie Gill has provided implementation training sessions on the Draft North West Marine Plan to local planning authorities, harbour authorities and coastal groups from Merseyside to Cumbria.
Charlie has given a lecture on marine planning to students at the University of Liverpool, attended the Shoreline Management Plan Refresh project and engaged with regional stakeholders on marine issues and opportunities in the North West.
East
Amy Balding and Georgie Sutton have gathered information and helped draft the second Three-Year Report on the East Marine Plans, as well as promoted the annual monitoring surveys among stakeholders in the east marine plan areas. They have also been involved with implementation sessions held with decision-makers in the north east and south east marine plan areas.
One of the events that Amy attended was the Natural Capital Workshop that took place in February with the newly established Yorkshire Coast Marine Nature Partnership. The aim of the workshop was to introduce the concept of natural capital and how it can be used to inform decision-making, develop a better understanding of our natural heritage and provide protection for the marine environment in the long term. It provided an introduction to the SWEEP project (The South West Partnership for Environmental and Economic Prosperity) and the tools it has developed; and also promoted discussion on how the marine nature partnership can use and develop natural capital in the future.
Georgie attended a meeting to discuss the future direction of Wild Anglia, the Local Nature Partnership (LNP) for Norfolk and Suffolk. There was a range of stakeholders in attendance, with a productive discussion about the key resources and assets in the region. Notable social, economic, and environmental gaps were identified and there was debate about opportunities for the LNP to address these gaps. As the LNP has not previously focused on marine aspects, the MMO hopes to remain involved in future conversations to promote activities in the marine and coastal area.
South East
Tom Pavitt has delivered implementation sessions to 34 councils holding multiple meetings in Westminster, Maidstone, Chelmsford and Ipswich.
Tom met with the Port of London authority in Gravesend and DP World London Gateway in Stanford-le-Hope to discuss the consultation, draft marine plan and how to use the plan from a ports and shipping viewpoint.
Tom gave a presentation on marine planning at the offices of Thames21 and held discussions on the link between ‘marine’ and rivers. This discussion was continued when Tom attended the Wholescape Approach to Marine Management (WAMM) workshop in London.
South
Whilst monitoring of the South Marine Plan continues, Carter Rippon has attended meetings with stakeholders across the south coast, engaging with stakeholders to keep on top of emerging issues and to gather feedback on the effectiveness of the South Marine Plan.
Carter attended the Solent Forum Spring Meeting, hosted by the Solent Forum, in which there were many fascinating presentations and discussions surrounding the Solent. The meeting provided a good networking opportunity to meet and discuss issues with stakeholders from a variety of backgrounds.
South West
Alex Curd and Abby Haines have been delivering marine plan implementation training to decision-makers and stakeholders along the South West coast. So far, in the South West, over 50 local authorities, ports, harbours and other stakeholders have received implementation training sessions.
Shorter implementation presentations have also been delivered at local groups such as the South West Coastal Group, the Cornwall Marine Liaison Group, the Tamar Estuary Consultative Forum, and the Severn Estuary Coastal Group. If you or your organisation would like some more information on South West Marine Plan implementation, please contact Alex or Abby and they will do their best to accommodate you.
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Team changes and recruitment
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A number of changes are afoot to the personnel within the team. In March we said goodbye to Tom Pavitt, our South East marine planner for around three-years, who has moved to Government Digital Services.
Joe Smithyman, who began as the North West marine planner just over 18 months ago, will leave his current evidence and analysis post in early May to take up a position with The Crown Estate.
It’s not quite goodbye to Amy Balding, who has been a marine planner for the East Marine Plan Area for around three-years. Amy was successful in securing a role as an evidence and analysis marine planner within the team.
We also welcome Jamie Johnson from the MMO Licensing Team who will be joining the Marine Planning Team in an evidence and analysis marine planner role.
The recruitment process to backfill the coastal marine planner vacancies is underway and we hope to have new colleagues in place soon.
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The Marine Conservation Team
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At the Marine Management Organisation, the Marine Conservation Team carry out assessments of Marine Protected Areas in English waters. These assessments determine whether management of activities is needed to protect the site.
They are building up their stakeholder contacts database. If you are interested in being contacted by the Marine Conservation Team regarding Marine Protected Areas in England, please contact them with the text below via conservation@marinemanagement.org.uk. Please use the email subject “Contact me”.
And include in the message “I give my permission to be contacted by the Marine Conservation Team at the Marine Management Organisation regarding Marine Protected Areas in England. In particular, I am interested in [please detail MPAs, activities etc.]” and provide your name and organisation.
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Contact Marine Planners
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Marine planners are here to keep you up to date with the development of marine plans in your area and to support you in the implementation of marine plans. Please contact the planning mailbox if you would like to meet your local planner or contact them directly.
North East: Clare McCarty – 0208 7201 736
North West: Charlie Gill – 0208 7203 624
East: Georgie Sutton – 0208 7202 365
South East: Georgie Sutton – 0208 7202 365
South West: Abby Haines – 0208 0265 506 and Alex Curd – 0208 5654 835
South: Carter Rippon – 0208 7203 586
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Useful Links
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