AGENDA AGENDA ITEM ITEM 9 SOUTH HAMS/WEST DEVON COUNCIL 9 NAME OF COMMITTEE Economy & Environment Scrutiny Panel DATE 7 March 2013 REPORT TITLE Marine Conservation Designations and Legislation Report of Natural Environment & Recreation Manager & AONB Estuaries Officer WARDS AFFECTED All wards adjoining tidal waters Summary of report: Significant changes are taking place to marine conservation and legislation. This report indicates how these changes affect the Council. Financial implications: There are no immediate additional financial implications to report. RECOMMENDATIONS: It is recommended that the Panel: a. Notes the current changes in marine conservation and how these impact on the Council’s work. b. Requests the Natural Environment and Recreation Manager to respond to the current consultation on a proposed new Marine Conservation Zone, along the lines indicated in the report below, in consultation with the Executive Member for Assets and the chair of the Economy and Environment Scrutiny Panel. c. Requests officers to continue to monitor changes in marine conservation designations and report any significant issues to a future meeting of this Panel. Officer contact: Ross Kennerley, Natural Environment and Recreation Manager 01803 861379 1. BACKGROUND 1.1 The seas of the South Hams are hugely important for their rich and varied wildlife. Colourful corals and sponge gardens, sea fans, jewel anemones, seagrass, basking sharks, sea horses, Atlantic seals and rare fan mussels – these are all found around our shores and many occur in our estuaries too. Over 8,000 species are found within these waters including many of national and European importance. 1.2 Our clean and productive marine environment is also important to us for commercial and recreational fishing, for commercial and recreational boating, for sport, swimming, tourism and much more. 1.3 Some of our estuary and inshore sea areas have been protected for years, such as the Salcombe and Kingsbridge Estuary Site of Special Scientific Interest (designated in 1987) and the Yealm/Tamar/Plymouth Sound Special Area of Conservation (designated in 2005). Here, wildlife protection has gone hand-in- hand with boating, fishing, and other activities. 1.4 Recently there has been a rapid development of policy and legislation affecting the marine environment, following the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009. This affects the South Hams coast including all tidal waters and estuaries. 1.5 The government’s aim - set out in the UK Marine Policy Statement - is to ensure ‘clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse oceans and seas.’ The recent programme of changes includes: • Designating new Marine Conservation Zones; • Publishing new statutory Marine Plans; • Forming the new Marine Management Organisation (MMO) and Inshore Fishing and Conservation Authorities; • Introducing a new system for licensing marine activities such as dredging and shoreline developments. 2. PROPOSED NEW MARINE CONSERVATION ZONES 2.1 Compared to wildlife on land, the wildlife of the UK’s seas is poorly protected, poorly understood and under-appreciated. It is also under pressure and some sea areas are being damaged by unsustainable human activity. 2.2 The government is therefore designating a number of additional protected marine areas to create a coherent network of our best marine and coastal habitats. The programme includes: • Extending the existing marine Special Areas of Conservation. • Designating new Marine Conservation Zones. The existing and proposed protected marine areas are listed in Appendix 1. 2.3 An initial 31 new Marine Conservation Zones are being considered by government for designation on advice from a scientific panel and a regional steering group. A consultation period is currently open on these. One of the 31 is the Skerries Bank and Surrounds covering a 250 sq km sea area from the mouth of the Salcombe Estuary around Prawle Point and Start Point to Torcross. 2.4 Defra is commissioning high quality surveys of a further 96 areas to determine whether they might be brought forward for designation at a later date. These 96 include parts of the Dart, Erme and Avon estuaries. 2.5 The designation of new Marine Conservation Zones does not mean that human activity will be prohibited. Controls or conservation measures may be required to prevent damage to the special features of the site, but provided that an activity is not damaging the specific feature for which an area is designated, then the expectation is that it would continue as before. However at this stage we do not know what the controls will be or how they will be enforced: once designated the controls could increase considerably. 2.6 The areas being put forward for designation are generally those which are already in good condition and least subject to damage. The designation of Marine Conservation Zones is not about managing fisheries and fish stocks: that is generally being undertaken through established mechanisms operated by the Inshore Fishing and Conservation Authorities. Indeed, the most heavily fished areas of sea and seabed were identified and removed from discussion early in the process of identifying potential Marine Conservation Zones. 3. NEW STATUTORY MARINE PLANS 3.1 The Marine Management Organisation is tasked with producing a series of Marine Plans. These will provide a framework for developing offshore renewable energy, commercial aggregates dredging, oil and gas exploration, and so on. 3.2 Work has just started on a new Marine Plan covering the coast from the mouth of the River Dart round to Folkestone (called the South of England Inshore & Offshore Plan Areas). The Plan will take two to three years to complete, and is very much in the early data-gathering stage. Local Authorities are expected to play a strong role in their development. There will be a round of engagement and consultations later. 3.3 The production of the next Plan, covering the remainder of the South west peninsula, will follow even later. 4. IMPLICATIONS FOR SOUTH HAMS DISTRICT COUNCIL 4.1 The Council already has a long and successful track record of partnership working for the benefit of the marine environment: • Management arrangements and byelaws for the Salcombe-Kingsbridge estuary; • Salcombe Harbour Authority and successful management of the SSSI since 1987; • Participation and support to estuary management groups for the Salcombe, Yealm, Tamar and Avon estuaries; • Participation in estuary management plans for the Dart, Salcombe, Avon, Erme, Yealm and Tamar estuaries; • Financial support for the AONB Estuaries Project Officer with six other partner organisations, undertaking a broad range of strategic, policy, practical and educational work; • Financial support for the Tamar Estuaries Consultative Forum; • Management and financial support for the Wembury Marine Centre. • Partnership and support to the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan and works undertaken on flood and coastal defence In all of these, the Council is able to fulfil its responsibilities towards the marine environment by working in partnership with other agencies and sharing the costs of doing so. 4.2 The Council is already under a statutory duty of care for the existing designated marine areas – Sites of Special Scientific Interest and Special Areas of Conservation. The Council will have a similar duty of care for furthering the conservation and management of any new designated Marine Conservation Zones. It is not currently clear what, if any, additional controls or responsibilities may be imposed following the designation of Marine Conservation Zones, and whether there will be any financial implications. For example, it is not currently known whether any new management structures or plans will be required for newly designated areas. Advice and direction on this will follow later from Natural England and government. In reality, much of this duty is expected to be cost- effectively dealt with by the Council’s continued involvement in the AONB Estuaries Partnership and the community-based estuary conservation forums. 4.3 There will be a requirement for the Council to engage with the new Statutory Marine Plan process, to ensure that the Council’s objectives are met and to ensure a clear read-across between the Marine Plan and the Council’s Local Plan. (As an illustration: if a Marine Plan was to propose off-shore renewable energy generation, there may be implications for new on-shore power transmission infrastructure to connect to the grid). 4.4 The Council will need to pay close attention to how its plans and activities impact on the marine and estuary environment. Government’s expectations of local planning authorities are set out in the National Planning Policy Framework and are far-reaching: “In coastal areas, local planning authorities should take account of the UK Marine Policy Statement and marine plans and apply Integrated Coastal Zone Management across local authority and land/sea boundaries, ensuring integration of the terrestrial and marine planning regimes”. (Para 105.) With the new Marine Plans and growing responsibilities for the suite of protected marine areas, further examination of the implications of ‘upstream’ developments would be required in the Local Plan process. This would include examining the wider implications of building developments and their runoff and wastes; and the impacts on habitats of increasing recreation pressures from rising populations. 4.5 It is also expected that future foreshore developments will require greater attention