Testing the water

The reach of the forthcoming Marine Bill will be long and wide affecting the interests of many.
CoastNET decided to conduct its own straw poll asking 16 organisations representing a diverse
section of marine and coastal interests what they consider to be the most pressing issues the
Marine Bill must tackle.

What is the most pressing issue the Marine Bill must tackle and why?

British Marine Aggregate Producers British Marine Federation (BMF), trade

Association (BMAPA), trade association for the
marine aggregate industry.
Ask most development interests what they really want
and the chances are the answer will be greater certainty
of the environment in which they operate – not only the
planning and regulatory environment, but also the natural.
For the Marine Bill to deliver greater certainty there must
be a commitment to improve our understanding of the
broad scale environment – something that will require
significant investment over time to resolve.
Mark Russell, Director, Marine Aggregates
association for the UK marine leisure industry
Simplifying the marine consents regime is a key opportunity
presented by the Marine Bill. For too long, the consents
process in the coastal zone has been bureaucratic, involving
many players, resulting in duplication, frustration and
significant costs, with limited benefit to the environment.
BMF's vision for the Marine Bill is one that safeguards both
marine resources and livelihoods by embracing sustainable
development, delivering a transparent and consistent
approach in all its decision making.
Sally Banham, Assistant Director

The edge Spring 2006 7

 North West Coastal Forum,
The Bill is a once-in-a-generation
chance to deliver better protection
for marine wildlife. It offers a critical
opportunity to develop a network of
Highly Protected Marine Reserves
and, through development of an
effective framework for the
integrated assessment, consenting
and control of maritime activity and
off-shore development, could enable
delivery of truly sustainable
management of the marine
environment.
Caroline Salthouse, Regional
Coastal Project Officer and
North West Coastal Forum
Secretariat
English Heritage, protects
and promotes England's historic
environment
Marine Spatial Planning is our main
issue. The draft bill must set out
what planning at sea will include
and how it will be delivered
qualifying the responsibilities
between authorities. We provide
independent advice to Government
and we require a Bill that helps to
protect in-situ maritime
archaeological material because
this is the best way to ensure its
long term future.
Dr Chris Pater, Marine Planner,
Maritime Archaeology Team
National Federation of
Fishermen’s
Organisation, representative
body for fishermen in England
and Wales
From the fishing industry
perspective, the Marine Bill would
offer an opportunity to tackle
chaotic and unco-ordinated
seabed developments. A UK
framework, that would ensure
consent decisions are founded on
robust, representative fisheries
and environmental data and would
prevent the siting of wind farms or
aggregate dredging on prime
fishing grounds, is essential.
Doug Beveridge
8 The edge Spring 2006
Environment Agency, leading public body for protecting
and improving the environment in England and Wales.
Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) is the top priority. It's what we need
to make sure that human activities don't conflict, and that they fit in
with the needs of the marine environment. MSP will need a statutory
base and should apply to all users and regulators, directly linking the
management of land and sea.
Jim Andrews, Marine Policy Manager
Thames Estuary Partnership, provides a neutral forum
for local authorities, national agencies, industry, voluntary
bodies and local communities to work together for the good
of the Thames Estuary
The Thames Estuary Partnership considers the lack of sustainable
spatial planning within the marine environment as a key concern. For
too long coastal activities have operated in conflict with little
communication or without adopting a strategic approach. The
challenge is therefore getting all stakeholders including fishermen,
developers, aggregates extraction, port operators, recreational users
to operate together in a more co-ordinated and sustainable manner.
Jill Goddard, Executive Director
The National Trust, NGO working to preserve and protect
the coastline, countryside and buildings of England, Wales
and Northern Ireland
The National Trust thinks that there is a pressing case for the
development of a marine spatial planning system to help halt the
decline in marine biodiversity. On land the planning system helps to
shape society's thinking about land use and development. No such
system exists below the low water mark, yet there is a real need to
plan ahead and there are often conflicts of interest or competition
for resources and space – fisheries and aquaculture, recreation,
shipping, off-shore oil, gas and renewables, and aggregate
extraction. All these could have a significant further impact on
marine wildlife, archaeology and the coastal landscape.
Rob Jarman, Head of environmental practices
and sustainability
British Wind Energy Association, trade and
professional body for the UK wind and
marine renewables industries.
The Marine Bill is a unique opportunity to more effectively and
efficiently manage economic and environmental interests in the
marine environment. The offshore renewable energy industry would
like this legislation to lead to a more streamlined consenting
procedure that works in the framework of a detailed and accurate
planning system. This would mean that developers have access to
data and awareness of potential conflicts when first considering
sites. This should mean more certainty and a reduction in regulation.
Importantly, this would also allow the marine environment to undergo
a sustainable development approach that would mean that
developers and conservationists are able to work closer together to
solve problems.
Michael Hay, Marine Renewables Development Manager
British Ports Association,
organisation representing
UK ports
The Marine Bill represents an
opportunity. The current system of
coastal management and coastal
consents is complex and confusing.
We believe that there is a lack of
understanding of coastal dynamics
and processes. If Marine Spatial
Planning can be deployed
constructively to defuse potential
conflict, and if better regulation can
be delivered by new Maritime
Management Organisation, then we
support the Bill. Thinking needs to
be adventurous.
David Whitehead, Director
Surfers against Sewage,
NGO campaigning for clean,
safe recreational waters
Current fragmented legislation is
woefully inadequate at recognising
the needs of modern recreational
water users such as surfers, sailors
and divers. To prevent important
recreational areas from
environmental degradation and to
aid in water quality improvement,
they need to be recognised within a
formal spatial planning process.
Without this, only traditional
'bathing' waters will have any
degree of recognition and only for a
few summer months.
Andrew Knights,
Campaign Researcher
English Nature, Government
agency championing the
conservation of wildlife and
geology throughout England.
The most pressing issue for the
Marine Bill is a legal basis for spatial
management to help secure the
structure, function and processes of
marine ecosystems and ensure a
sustained but improved flow of benefits
for human use and appreciation.
Critical elements are spatial planning,
a national protected area network,
and areas of higher protection for
recovery to benchmark sustainability
and rebuild resilience in the face of
climate change.
Dr Mark Duffy, Maritime Manager
United Kingdon Hydrographic Office, a government
Trading Fund and part of the Ministry of Defence providing
navigational products and services to the Royal Navy and the
merchant marine in compliance with Safety Of Life At Sea
(SOLAS) Regulations
The most pressing issue from the UKHO’s perspective is the need for
a common and consistent legislative framework within which policy
and planning decisions can be made. Whilst accepting there will be
differences with existing planning regulations on land, it needs to be
as seamless as possible. This requires a base reference geospatial
map which is interoperable across the littoral zone and into the
terrestrial environment. This will support the definitive referencing of
maritime conservation areas, planned marine national parks and
habitat mapping, as well as underpinning a streamlined consents
regime for the UK Continental Shelf.
Scottish Coastal Forum, established by Government to
encourage debate on coastal issues at national level and
provide advice.
The Scottish Coastal Forum's members represent many key marine
and coastal stakeholders and have many different views on a variety
of issues related to marine and coastal management.
The most pressing issue being raised by deliberations on the UK
Marine Bill is the way in which devolved and reserved matters are
managed. Marine processes do not adhere to artificial boundaries
imposed by humans for socio-economic or political purposes, but in
order to manage human impacts on the environment it is often
necessary to delineate responsibilities by drawing boundaries. The
UK Marine Bill should therefore recognise the ability of the devolved
administrations to govern national interests while retaining a broader
integrated approach, both within the UK and across Europe, that is so
vital to management of our coasts and seas.
Stephen Midgley, Project Officer
United Kingdom Offshore Operations Association
(UKOOA), the representative organisation for the oil and gas
companies licensed by the UK government to explore for and
produce hydrocarbons offshore around the British Isles
The Marine Bill must acknowledge the importance of the offshore oil
and gas industry to the British economy and the benefits it brings
through investment, jobs, tax revenues and secure primary energy
supplies. It should recognise that the industry's activities are not
incompatible with high standards of environmental management and
should reflect the emphasis the offshore oil and gas sector already
places on the protection of the marine environment.
Wildlife and Countryside Link, bringing together
environmental voluntary organisations in the UK united by
their common interest in the conservation and enjoyment of
the natural and historic environment.
Link believes that the Marine Bill offers a critical opportunity to
provide for the designation of a representative network of Nationally
Important Marine Sites (NIMS), which must include a suite of Highly
Protected Marine Reserves (HPMRs). The Bill is a once-in-a-
generation chance to deliver better protection for marine wildlife. If it
does not do this it will have failed.
The edge Spring 2006 9