Marine Planning Newsletter Issue 12 – February 2012

Marine Planning Newsletter Issue 12 – February 2012
In this issue ·         Guide to getting involved on the South coast is published ·         Plan-making in the South officially starts ·         East Inshore and East Offshore marine plan areas update ·         Refresh of Strategic Scoping Report ·         Update to Marine Planning Portal ·         MMO’s Marine Planning Team structure ·         Out and about diary	Guide to getting involved on the South coast is published As planning for the South Inshore and South Offshore plan areas continues a public guide on how to get involved is now online. The Statement of Public Participation(SPP) gives details of how we intend to gather as many views as possible from those in the South plan area – from Folkestone to the River Dart in Devon – to shape the 20-year vision for the area. It has now been approved by the Secretary of State. In January more than 170 people attended workshops n Exeter, Southampton and Brighton to inform the SPP and hear more about marine planning in the South plan areas. Those attending represented a range of interests, such as tourism and recreation, ports and shipping, aggregates, local authorities, consultancies, conservation and environmental interests, coastal forums and central government among others. The SPP sets out the process for plan-making in the South, who may be involved in marine planning and how and when they can get involved. It also includes an overall timeline for plan-making. Top
	Plan-making in the South officially starts Following the publication of the SPP, plan-making can officially begin in the South Inshore and South Offshore marine plan areas, The next stage of the planning process includes a period of evidence gathering to ensure all our work is based on the best available information. Once the Strategic Scoping Report (SSR) – a national evidence report – has been published in summer 2013, more detailed evidence gathering will begin for the South plan areas. We will be seeking input from anyone who can either help supply evidence to support plan development or help to identify key issues the marine plan may seek to address. Part of this process will involve a series of workshops about emerging key issues, anticipated for early autumn 2013, and we will keep you informed about when and where these will take place. Top
	East Inshore and East Offshore marine plan areas update Over the past few months we have been working with government to ensure the draft East Inshore and East Offshore marine plans are ready for the ministerial approval process ahead of public consultation. The draft plans are complete and we are now working to finalise the supporting documents, such as the sustainability appraisal. Public consultation on the draft plans will run for 12 weeks and is anticipated to begin in June. The consultation is expected to include a series of drop-in sessions in various locations along the East coast where the draft plans will be exhibited. These sessions will be an opportunity for those with an interest to come along and speak to a planning officer about the content of the plans and what it means for you. We will be launching an online consultation tool to coincide with the publication of the draft plans, which will allow people to respond to the consultation via our website. This MMO Connect tool will allow consultees to view the draft marine plans and provide responses to the consultation questions online. There will also be other opportunities to respond to the consultation, all of which will be publicised as the consultation gets underway. If you have any questions, please contact us on 0191 376 2790 or emailplanning@marinemanagement.org.uk Top
	Refresh of Strategic Scoping Report We are currently working to refresh the Strategic Scoping Report (SSR). The national evidence report compares the distribution of activities, resources and ecosystems across the different marine plan areas to ensure that we are aware of the individual character of the South plan areas as we progress through the plan-making process. If you have any national evidence you think would be useful for the SSR, please contact us. Top
	Update to Marine Planning Portal We have been busy refreshing the existing data on the Marine Planning Portal to ensure it is all up-to-date for forthcoming plan development. New data has also been published on the portal, including species and habitat data from a Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs project, bird density data and marine conservation zones proposed for designation in 2013, plus other information. Once the public consultation is underway for the East Inshore and East Offshore marine plans, users will be able to view map layers on the planning portal which will display the draft planning policies. Users can then comment on these plan layers through the new ‘click and comment’ tool. The tool allows users to click on a particular area of interest and give a comment specific to that particular area. More information on this tool will be available once the consultation is underway. Visit the portal to find out more. Top
	MMO’s Marine Planning Team structure Following feedback gathered at the SPP workshops in the South plan areas in January 2013, we have published our current team structure chart. This chart indicates at a high level the current team structure and overall work areas of the team. A more detailed chart with different roles and responsibilities for each member of the team is also available. Top
	Out and about diary Channel Arc Manche Integrated Strategy (Camis)  We attended and presented at the fourth Channel Arc Manche Integrated Strategy(Camis) forum in Caen, Normandy, France. Over the course of four years (2009 -2013) and bringing together 19 French and British partners, the aim of Camis is to develop and promote the implementation of an integrated maritime strategy in the Channel area. CAMIS also aims to develop concrete co-operation actions in fields such as workforce development, innovation and maritime clusters, transport and maritime safety. The focus on this final forum meeting was to discuss the action plan for the strategy including a number of presentations on the marine planning system in England and in France. The forum was attended by a cross sector of people from both the English and French sides of the Channel. A lot of useful and important work has been done as a result of the forum and it is has been good opportunity to bring together interests from both sides of the channel. National Character Areas (NCA) Workshop In April, we attended the National Character Areas workshop in St Ives, Cambridge. NCAs divide the English mainland into 159 distinct character areas. Hosted by Campaign to Protect Rural England and Natural England, the workshop introduced and explored the practical uses of the new profiles. We are working closely with Natural England to align coastal NCAs with the recently announced seascape assessment currently being undertaken in the South marine plan areas. Top
Marine Planning Team | Tel: 0191 376 2790 | Email: planning@marinemanagement.org.uk