NEW MARINE

AND COASTAL
LEGISLATION FOR THE UK

CoastNet Strategic Director, Alex

Midlen, reviews the new Marine and
Coastal Access Bill and discusses its
innovations and implications for the
coastal and marine community.
In preparing to write this
article I made the mistake
of trying to read the Bill.
It is immense and all too
easy to become lost in
the detail of the sections
and clauses. The UK
Parliament website tracks
the progress of the Bill
through the House of Lords and the House of Commons.
Following this means encountering yet more bewildering
proposed amendments: ‘Page 68, line 21, leave out “may”
and insert “must, by 2012,”, for example. All very
important but few of us have the time and knowledge to
follow the Bill in this level of detail.
So to take a step back, what I am interested in is the key
elements of the Bill and those that are really significant.
In essence, the Bill covers five main areas:
1 Modernising consents procedures for the marine
environment
2 Providing the legal mechanism to establish Marine
Conservation Zones for species and habitats of UK
significance (as opposed to European, which is
covered by the Habitats Directive)
3 Modernising inshore fishery management
4 Establishing a marine management organisation
5 Providing the legal mechanism for Marine Planning
6 Providing the legal mechanism to enable public
access to the coast in England.
The Edge
www.coastnet.org.uk/theedge | August 2009
Modernising consents and inshore fishery management are
important but do not take us into uncharted waters. Marine
Conservation Zones (MCZs) are heralded as a significant
breakthrough by the nature conservation community, as
indeed they are. However, for me, the really groundbreaking
elements to the Bill are the last two. Marine Planning
provides consents, inshore fishery management and MCZs
with a more significant context than if they were to be
introduced alone. Coastal access is in some ways an uneasy
bedfellow to these strongly maritime aspects and will be
considered in a future article.
MARINE PLANNING –
THE REAL INNOVATION
It is Marine Planning that is the show-stopper. Its
introduction will not only introduce a rational and
integrated mechanism for the allocation of marine resources,
but will fundamentally change terrestrial planning in coastal
areas. Why so? The two systems will overlap in space, and
must therefore be consistent in their respective policies.
Thus, marine planning will inevitably bring much more
detailed consideration of marine activities and resources to
terrestrial planning. Similarly, marine planning should take
account of terrestrial concerns, particularly the needs of
coastal communities. In fact, it is clear that the UK is
moving towards a system of integrated territorial planning
out to the furthest legal boundaries of maritime states.
From what we know about the ‘marine policy statement’
that will provide the framework for marine spatial policy,
the system will get off to a shaky start. In mid 2008 the
government consulted on high level marine objectives.
These objectives seemed to be fairly equitable and
comprehensive, but inevitably are full of internal conflicts.
Where ultimately will the balance lie between environment
and society? This is not to discount the possibility of
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sustainable development, but simply a recognition that
strategic decisions will have to be made on the character of
the marine policy statement – will it be people-centric or
eco-centric? I have expressed the opinion many times
before that the policy that gave rise to the Marine and
Coastal Access Bill, ‘Safeguarding our Seas’ is strongly
eco-centric.
The marriage between marine
and terrestrial planning is likely
to be more of a shotgun
wedding than an integrated
system. Terrestrial plans, while
reflecting environmental
concerns are fundamentally
about communities and their
social and economic well-being.
The Marine Policy is likely to
have a much stronger
environmental bias, so creating
a point of tension on day one.
To understand the practical implications let us consider a
hypothetical small coastal resort town in England. The local
authority have for some time recognised the need for
regeneration to tackle the above average levels of deprivation
found there. They have developed an investment-led
strategy and made provision in the local development
framework to improve flood protection for the settlement
and at the same time improve the promenade and its
facilities for visitors. This plan has been approved by
Government Office for the Region and the Planning
Inspectorate through a public enquiry, and funding has been
secured through Defra flood management funds and the
Regional Development Agency. Planning consent has been
applied for to both the terrestrial planning authority and to
the Marine Management Organisation as the marine
planning authority.
The Edge
www.coastnet.org.uk/theedge | August 2009
PLANNING AUTHORITY
CONFLICTS
The new Marine Plan for the adjacent sea contains a core
policy regarding ‘working with natural processes.’ When
consent is sought from the Marine Management
Organisation to construct the flood defence works which are
the basis of the regeneration plan, the tensions between
environment and society which are inherent in this system
are brought to the fore. Consent is refused on the basis of
unacceptable environmental impact due to the disruption of
sediment flows and possible change to erosion patterns.
One authority consents, one refuses. The development
cannot legally commence. Marine environment wins, coastal
community loses.
Is it right that sediment movements come before combating
poverty? Should relatively short-term societal concerns take
precedence over longer term environmental stability, which
after all is the basis of life on Earth? Can we really say with
sufficient certainty that the impacts of the development will
have a bigger detriment to society than the gains expected
from the town’s regeneration?
These questions should have been asked and resolved by
now – but the uncertainty remains.
Alex Midlen is Strategic Director of CoastNet
www.coastnet.org.uk
Can societal and
environmental priorities
find a balance in terrestrial
and marine planning under
the new Marine and
Coastal Access Bill?
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