BOROUGH OF POOLE

LOCAL ECONOMY OVERVIEW GROUP 9 NOVEMBER 2006

POOLE HARBOUR AQUATIC MANAGEMENT PLAN ADOPTION

1. Matter for Consideration

1.1 The adoption of the Poole Harbour Aquatic Management Plan

2. Recommendation

2.2 That LEOG endorse the attached Poole Harbour Aquatic Management Plan(PHAMP) and recommend that Cabinet approve this document for adoption.

3. Background

3.1In 1994 the Borough of Poole along with voluntary partner organisations with an interest in the management of Poole Harbour adopted the Poole Harbour Aquatic Management Plan. The strategic aim of the plan is to promote the safe and sustainable use of the Harbour whilst balancing the demands on its natural resources, minimising risk and resolving conflicts of interest. Since the beginning of this year the Poole Harbour Steering Group of which the Council is a member have been reviewing the adopted plan. The review also incorporates an updating of the Poole Harbour Management Policies 1998.

3.2As a non-statutory plan it seeks to guide the current and future management of the Harbour and act as a vehicle for communication between the key statutory organisations that make up the Poole Harbour Steering Group and other stakeholders. The ecological importance of the Harbour is internationally recognized. In 1999 it was designated as a Special Protection Area under the European Birds Directive with the intertidal zone referred to as a European Marine Site(EMS). The revised Aquatic Management Plan will also serve as a management scheme for the EMS and whilst the environmental importance of the Harbour is recognized management initiatives also need to balance the requirements of many other commercial and recreational activities.

3.3The Plan has 25 guiding principles which cover an array of issues from nature conservation to noise pollution, from maintaining the economic prosperity of the port to enhancing fisheries and from promoting best practice in archaeological investigation to supporting sustainable development for tourism and recreation. The Plan’s chapters deal with topic issues explaining the background and current management issues affecting the Harbour from which is drawn current management

1 initiatives. These together with proposed management objectives and actions is articulated within a management matrix set out in the front of the document.

3.4The management matrix identifies activities, managing bodies, potential impacts, initiatives, objectives, actions, lead authorities and the timescale over which the actions will be implemented. Given that the Plan draws on existing plans and policies the issues that arise are already generally well known and where the Council is identified as a lead authority, for example, in air quality, bait digging, coastal protection and the planning and control of development, these are functions already undertaken individually or in partnership with other bodies.

3.5The key issue for the Council is to ensure that it continues to support the Plan as a means to the appropriate management of the Harbour having regard to the wide range of interests and activities that take place and that the Council recognises its responsibilities across the range of activities that it is involved in. The Plan is now going to all the partners who make up the Poole Harbour Steering Group for adoption with the intention that all will have signed off the document before the end of the year.

4. Consultation

4.1Consultation on the draft Plan closed on 1 September. 31 organisations and/or individuals submitted comments on the draft plan. The comments have been considered by the Steering Group and amendments made. A summary of the representations is attached.

4.2Most of the representations were supportive of the Plan and/or sought clarification or additional detail to be added. Natural England made the most comments on the Plan unsurprisingly given the nature conservation value of the Harbour. It is also important to have their support for the Plan which acts as the management plan for the European Marine site and this has now formally been received.

David Ralph Head of Strategic Planning

Contact Officer Nigel Jacobs, Planning Policy and Implementation Manager 01202 633328 email [email protected]

Background Papers Poole Harbour Aquatic Management Plan Consultation document Consultation Responses Summary and Actions

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