Medea Gravelle

Carter (1988) stated that ‘the coastal zone is the area in which terrestrial environments influence marine environments and vice versa’. However, it is impossible to set precise boundaries either inland or offshore as different issues affect different geographical areas. In terms of pollution and water quality, the inland boundary could stretch for many kilometres in river catchments, whilst coastal tourism could be limited to less than 1 km.

Within the marine environment, management boundaries are more rigid. In addition to High Water Mark (HWM) and Low Water Mark (LWM), four main boundaries define activity, management and regulation:

3 nautical miles – Environment Agency boundary for management purposes;

6 nautical mile fishery limit;

Territorial sea: immediately offshore of a coastal state; extends seaward of the baseline (LWM) for 12 nautical miles;

Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) extends for 200 nautical miles beyond the baseline (or half way between counties if closer than 200 nautical miles). Within the EEZ the coastal state has sovereign rights for the purpose of exploration, exploitation, conservation and management of marine resources.

The Dorset Coast extends for 140 kilometres from Lyme Regis in the west to Highcliffe in the east. The coastline is not only stunningly beautiful but also displays geological sections of world importance. As a result, a wealth of environmental designations blankets the area. Just as important, the marine environment boasts both a rich diversity of wildlife and marine archaeological finds (See History On the Seabed), and a flourishing coastal economy.

Coastal Zone Management - Issues

The management of the coastal zone is complicated by a number of issues, including:

The diverse ownership of coastal land intertidal areas;

A ‘hostile’ marine environment;

The number of competing activities within a relatively ‘narrow’ area;

Conflicting issues and activities i.e. economic vs. environment;

Over 80 Acts dealing with the regulation of activities in the coastal zone;

No current legislation that explicitly addresses coastal management;

The lack of an overview or lead agency ;

Coastal issues usually transgress political boundaries.

Coastal Zone Management in practice - Dorset:

Land Based Management

Whilst the statutory planning system has closely defined limits, the coastal zone is affected by a much broader range of policies, decisions and actions made by the numerous bodies covering the area. The planning system does not operate in isolation.

Many management roles and policies depend on land ownership. In Dorset a large proportion of the coast is owned by the National Trust which manages the land under organisational guidelines and regulations whilst observing and adhering to statutory planning controls. Other large swathes of the coast are in private or Ministry of Defence (MoD) ownership, including the Weld Estate (Lulworth), the Smedmore Estate (Kimmeridge), the Ilchester Estate (The Fleet) and the Lulworth Ranges (MoD). Within these holdings, the landowners or their representatives set their own management strategies.

As a result, a tiered management system exists with the statutory planning system at the top, cascading down to more in-depth local planning and management within a town or region and more detailed plans within each privately run landholding, caravan site, visitor attraction or other amenity.

Land Based Planning & Development

Coastal planning and management are not synonymous (Lee et al, 1993). Planning in the coastal zone relates to the statutory planning system which has its basis in the Town and County Planning Act, 1990. This Act empowers the local authorities to produce structure and development plans which set out policies to guide and shape development land use patterns. Local authority powers under the Act only extend to mean LWM. Beyond this planning and development responsibility reverts principally to central government control. Although the local authority sets the content of these plans, central government provides national guidance through a range of mechanisms, including documents known as Planning Policy Guidance notes (PPG’s). These are an important factor in defining ’Material considerations’ and influencing the operation of the planning system. PPG 20 refers specifically to coastal planning.

Within Dorset, seven local authorities are empowered to carry out statutory planning along Dorset’s coastal zone:

Bournemouth Borough Council (Unitary)
Christchurch Borough Council
Dorset County Council
Poole Borough Council (Unitary)
Purbeck District Council
West Dorset District Council
Weymouth & Portland District Council

However, due to the hierarchical structure of Government within the UK, the responsibilities of the authorities differ.

County Councils

(* Depicts a coastal management issue)

Strategic planning*

Transport*

Minerals & Waste*

Education

Social services

Fire services

Consumer protection

Refuse disposal

Smallholdings

Libraries

Recreation*

Cultural matters*

District / Borough Councils

Local planning*

Coast Protection* (permissive powers)

Environmental health*

Development Control*

Local highways

Housing

Refuse collection

Boroughs are titles of honour, which do not affect the functions of a local authority.

In the late 1990’s, the Government became concerned that this two-tier model of service provision in the UK was inefficient and confusing, and that County Councils were too remote from those they served. As a result, in the larger populated areas of Bournemouth and Poole, the existing Borough councils took over the County Council powers and responsibilities, becoming Unitary Authorities totally independent from Dorset County Council.

A further level of local government exists in the form of Parish and Town Councils which have some responsibilities (but not overall responsibility) for coastal issues such as car parking and environmental byelaws such as dog bans on beaches. There are a total of 17 coastal town/parish councils in Dorset.

Harbours

Several major land-based planning and development areas lie outside the Town and County Planning Act, the most significant in the coastal zone being Harbour development powers. In contrast to local planning authorities, harbour authorities’ powers can extend below the LWM and may involve control of fishing and navigation within the harbour authority boundaries.

Dorset has three very different cargo and passenger handling ports/harbours:

Port of Poole - managed as a non-profit Trust Port by Poole Harbour Commissioners;

Portland Port - privately owned by Portland Port Limited;

Weymouth Harbour - managed by Weymouth & Portland Borough Council.

The lead responsibility for regulating ports lies with the Department of Transport (DfT), which was established in 2002 to focus solely on transport issues. If a port wishes to change its role or undertake any major development work, it may require a Harbour Revision Order (HRO) from the DfT, or authorisation under the Transport and Works Act. An Environmental Statement must accompany both.

The harbour authority has an overall duty to ensure safety of navigation. This includes wide-ranging powers to direct vessels within the harbour, a duty to maintain navigable channels and prevent navigation obstructions, and powers to make byelaws to regulate navigational safety and the conduct of vessels within the harbour. However, the role also brings wider powers and duties:

An environmental duty to ensure port operations have regard to conservation interests;

A duty to produce and implement port waste management plans;

A duty to produce emergency oil pollution clear-up plans within port areas.

Both Poole and Portland are affected by European Wildlife designations. The mud flats of Poole Harbour are a Special Protection Area (SPA) and Portland is adjacent to the Fleet and Chesil candidate Special Area of Conservation (cSAC). Both authorities have a duty to use their powers to maintain the conservation interest of the respective sites. The harbour authority's role embraces the management of recreation, and has an important impact on developing new activity. There are some opportunities to extend activities in Portland and Poole Harbours (probably the two most important areas on the Dorset coast for water recreation). In addition, the Weymouth Harbour Authority control extends into Weymouth Bay, an area recognised by the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) as one of the best sailing waters in the UK. All three ports provide facilities for fishing. Poole Harbour Commissioners responded to these pressures by establishing a steering group for the harbour, which has prepared a set of overall Management Policies, and an Aquatic Management Plan, which prescribes the regime for managing recreation.

Coast Defence

The Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has overall policy responsibility for flood defence and coast protection in England and Wales, and offers grant-aid for new defence schemes. Government policy for coast defence embodied in its Strategy for Flood and Coastal Defence (1993) states that new coast defences should be:

Environmentally acceptable: natural processes should not be disrupted except where life or important man-made or natural assets are at risk;

Technically sound: a range of options should be considered, and schemes should be sustainable and work with natural processes as far as possible;

Economically viable: the benefits of defending must be equal to or exceed the costs.

At the local level, the District and Unitary Authorities are empowered to monitor and propose new schemes to combat erosion problems. The Environment Agency leads schemes to protect property and land from flooding, although district/unitary councils have equivalent permissive powers.

Coast defence on Dorset’s coast reflects the extent of property located there; the coastlines of Christchurch, Bournemouth, Poole and Weymouth are almost entirely defended against erosion and flooding by sea walls and beaches retained by groynes . Settlement on the rest of the Dorset coast is generally sparse, and most remains without man-made defences. However, it is the coastal towns in these rural areas which are most at risk from erosion and flooding. At Lyme Regis, Seatown, West Bay, Portland and Swanage, there is significant property that is threatened by landsliding (See Landslides and Coastal Change).

Sites with particular flood hazards include West Bay, Chiswell and Weymouth. Within the last ten years, new or upgraded coast protection schemes have been implemented at Ringstead, Lyme Regis, Durlston, Seatown and Charmouth. Flood protection schemes have been built at Chiswell and Preston. Future schemes are being appraised for Lyme Regis (Town Beach and East Cliff), Weymouth, Poole and West Bay.

It has also become recognised that the implementation of coastal defence must take due regard of the overall natural processes operating on the coast. These processes can operate over large stretches of coastline, for example eroding cliffs in one place can provide the sediment which forms beaches elsewhere. Therefore, badly planned coastal defences can have knock-on effects further along the coast. In response, Shoreline Management Plans (SMPs) have been recommended and grant-aided by DEFRA as the means to ensure a strategic approach to coast defence. The plans are produced and overseen by SMP Groups led by local councils and the Environment Agency. Three SMPs cover the Dorset coast, based on coastal cells:

Lyme Bay & South Devon;

Portland-Durlston;

Durlston-Hurst Spit.

Conservation

Conservation has traditionally referred to land-based issues and has been divided into landscape, wildlife and archaeology, each with different legislation and administrative frameworks. On land, important wildlife sites and areas receive protection from a range of different conservation designations. There is a hierarchy of types of sites, based on the quality of the asset, from international and European, through national, to County level. Development and damaging activities within protected areas are normally subject to control by local authorities and/or English Nature. Designations on land are an important means of protection, and provide for due recognition of wildlife importance, based on scientific evaluation. They are generally helpful in protecting and assisting positive management of wildlife, but have some negative aspects. They can be regarded as confrontational or wholly restrictive, and may create a significant administrative load. Overlap of different designations for the same site can cause confusion.

The outstanding beauty of the Dorset’s coastal landscape was recognised through the designation of the whole coast, (except for the developed coastline), as the Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in 1957. Its primary purpose was to conserve the natural beauty of the area. Most of the undeveloped coast has also been defined as Heritage Coast, which aims to protect unspoilt stretches of coastline from development. The Purbeck Heritage Coast was defined in 1981, and the West Dorset Heritage Coast in 1984. The local planning authorities in these areas have produced strategic management strategies for the Heritage Coasts and are preparing them for the AONB.

At a District level, Areas of Local Landscape Importance identified in the Local Plan are protected by the planning process. These often form a ‘buffer’ around the Heritage Coasts.

In 2002, the Dorset and East Devon Coast from Orcombe Rocks, Exmouth, Devon to Studland Bay in Dorset was designated England’s first Natural World Heritage Site by UNESCO. This designation is due to the continuous exposure of 185 million years of Jurassic Earth History within 152 km of coastline.

The wildlife of the marine environment receives no similar protection and, with the exception of sites of European value, there are no effective statutory mechanisms for designating marine protected areas. Several marine areas in Dorset have been given European protection through the declaration of candidate Special Areas of Conservation (Chesil and the Fleet) and Special Protection Areas (Poole Harbour), together with the designation of both local and national nature reserves.

However, it would be wrong to imply that conservation begins and ends with the designation of important sites or species. A number of bodies have formal environmental duties, which require them to make provision for conservation interests when carrying out their responsibilities (e.g. ports). Numerous voluntary bodies operating at both national and local levels have become particularly important in this field. Of particular significance is the involvement and active management role played by organisations such as the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), The Wildlife Trusts, The Marine Conservation Society, The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and The National Trust. The efforts of many of these bodies have influenced the development of Government conservation policies (HMSO, 1990).

The National Trust owns a considerable part of the coastline in Purbeck and West Dorset. Under its ‘Enterprise Neptune’ initiative, it has purchased coastal properties in order to protect the coast from unsuitable development. The Trust has the powers to declare its land ‘inalienable’, effectively preventing compulsory purchase for development.

On land, the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 empowers English Heritage to schedule archaeological sites to ensure that they are protected. In 2002, this legislation was amended to enable English Heritage to schedule sites below LWM (See History On the Seabed). In addition several other very specific acts are relevant in the marine environment, including the Merchant Shipping Act 1995, Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 and the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973.

Tourism

Most of the facilities and infrastructure required by the tourism industry, such as the siting of accommodation, car parking and transport are governed by the planning system. However in addition to planning regulations, new development such as camping and caravan sites also require an environmental impact assessment (EIA) to be undertaken as outlined in the EU Environmental Assessment Directive, 1985. At a national level, the government produce advice and guidance documents to assist local authorities with tourism planning. These include Department of the Environment Policy Guidelines for the Coast, 1995 and Project Planning Guidance Notes (PPG 20 - Coastal Development & PPG 21 – Tourism) which provide clear, accessible and systematic policy guidance.

Once developments have been approved and constructed, detailed management lies with the individual, company or organisation that owns or runs the amenity. Therefore, many different management styles can occur at the local level.

Recreation

The only clear statutory lead roles for the management of land-based recreation are those of harbour authorities and the Rights of Way Authorities (County and Unitary Councils). Elsewhere, landowners may be empowered by DEFRA to use byelaw powers to manage activity on the beaches and the shoreline. However, local authority powers to regulate near shore water-based activity have long been outdated, and are currently being reviewed by DEFRA.

Where byelaws are introduced, they need to be effectively ‘policed’, and the ability of authorities to back up byelaw creation with enforcement must be considered before any new measures are introduced. Harbour authorities remain a source of good practice in regulating recreational activity, and the introduction of the Poole Harbour Aquatic Management Plan is one of the leading examples of a co-ordinated water based coastal recreation management.

Over the past few years, concerns have been expressed about the safety of powered watercraft in the hands of poorly or untrained users. The lack of legal requirement for minimum standards of training, age limits or third party insurance for those using watercraft is an issue, particularly in relation to the use of fast-motorised craft. Many harbour authorities consider that a national registration scheme for watercraft would assist them in enforcing regulations. The Royal Yachting Association has introduced a voluntary registration scheme, but considers increased national legislation unjustified, whilst the British Water Ski Federation supports legal standards for those operating powerboats and other fast motor craft. In the absence of national measures, there has been a move to introduce localised registration and restrictions, and an example is a permit scheme for jet-skis in Poole Harbour in 1998, which requires those using craft to:

be registered with the harbour authority and display a registration number;

carry adequate third party insurance;

sign to indicate they understand the main harbour byelaws.

In addition to legislation, a wide range of individuals and organisations have developed informal techniques to help ensure that enjoyable recreational activity is available to those who want it, and to reduce conflicts where they occur. Some of the main mechanisms include:

Self regulation through clubs

Codes of Conduct

Working Groups and Forums

Permits and Charging

Zonation

A number of organisations including central government offer recreational advice, assistance and funding. DEFRA’s Policy Planning Guidance Note 17 (PPG 17) provides policy advice on Sport & Recreation. Sport England provides advice and grant under the National Lottery Sports Fund, and the Environment Agency, Countryside Agency and individual national sports bodies advise on countryside and coastal recreation.

Sea Based Management

With the exception of some harbour authorities and specific areas ceded for historical reasons, the seabed between the Mean Low Water Mark and the limit of the territorial sea is owned and managed by the Crown Estate. The Crown Estate Act 1961 states that the purpose of the Commissioners who manage the Estate is to:

‘Maintain and enhance the value of the Estate and the return obtained from it, but
with due regard to the requirement of good management:’

Although the Crown Estate manages the seabed as an asset, they do not own the water column, oil, gas and coal, or public rights such as navigation and fisheries. Central government is responsible for regulation of most of these activities, although they need approval and consent from the Crown Estate for structures or development on the seabed.

Regulation of activity on the seabed

Marine Aggregates

Government control of marine aggregate dredging has historically been exercised through the Government View Procedure, currently administered by the Minerals and Waste Planning Division of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM). Before an area can be dredged, an application must be submitted to the Crown Estate. Each application will involve the undertaking of an Environmental Impact Assessment and extensive consultation with the fishing industry, relevant government bodies and the public. Following this stage, a formal dredging licence application is prepared and submitted to the Crown Estate who then decide whether to grant or refuse a licence.

However, it is anticipated that the Environmental Impact Assessment and Habitats (Extraction of Minerals by Marine Dredging) Regulations will come into force later in 2003, altering the present system.
Dorset County Council and the two Unitary Authorities, Bournemouth Borough Council and Poole Borough Council, must produce Minerals and Waste Local Plans, setting out planning policies for minerals extraction on land within Dorset. The most recent set of Minerals and Waste Local Plans run until 2007.

Oil and gas

The main regulatory mechanism for oil and gas extraction is the issuing of licences by the Department of Trade and Industry, with different systems for the sea and for land.

For licensing purposes, the UK Continental Shelf is divided into 1° longitude by 1° latitude quadrants, each of which is divided into 30 blocks - with an average size of around 230 square kilometres.

There are 32 licence blocks and part-blocks between the Dorset coast and the limit of the UKCS in the English Channel, 20 of which lie at least partly within the 12-mile limit.

Licence blocks on land are defined using 10km squares related to the national grid. Arrangements for licensing on land were revised in 1995, and are now subject to a single licence – the Petroleum Exploration and Development Licence, which is broadly similar to the seaward production licence. The first such licence in Dorset – PEDL48 – was awarded in early 1998 and covers an area north and west of Dorchester. Prior to that a three-licence system operated, under which most of Dorset’s onshore oil was licensed. The Kimmeridge oil well pre-dates specific licensing arrangements for oil and gas, and operates under a Mining Licence. Landward exploration and production licences granted in the 1970s extend over most of Purbeck, and eastwards to Christchurch and the New Forest. These relatively long-term licences compared to current practice extend to 2014.

Photograph showing a drilling rig at Kimmeridge (DCM).

Shipping

Over 2000 ships pass Dorset’s coast every day, although very few berth at Poole, Portland or Weymouth, with the majority heading to and from other UK and European ports.

Passing shipping has the potential to create serious impacts on Dorset’s coast, particularly if it generates marine pollution in the form of litter and oil resulting from dumping of fuel washings and garbage. The international MARPOL Convention on marine pollution regulates discharges from shipping, but effective policing and enforcement carried out by the Maritime Coastguard Agency is necessary to ensure it is effective.

Shipping also poses a burden for the emergency services and requires emergency planning to deal with collisions or wrecks taking account of both casualties and possible pollution from fuel, oil or hazardous cargoes. There is a requirement for ports to prepare emergency plans for incidents within their limits. All Dorset Local Authorities have voluntarily prepared their own emergency and coastal pollution clean-up plan led by Dorset County Council.

Fishing

Over 470 vessels currently hold permits to fish commercially within the Southern Sea Fisheries District, which includes the waters off Dorset, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight out to the 6 mile limit of exclusive UK fishing rights.

The EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is the centre of fishery regulation in Europe, albeit with a range of regional variations. On 1st January 2003, the 20 year old CFP was revised, concentrating on a new long-term approach rather than the annual planning which has occurred in the past. The drive within the policy is to try to prevent widely perceived over-fishing of many stocks by reducing fishing effort through reduction in fleet sizes, days at sea and the continued operation of national quotas on catch. Inevitably the policy is complex, and the decisions which are taken are very remote from the local level at which they have their effect.

National government, through DEFRA, also has powers to impose its own fisheries regulations within the UK Exclusive Economic Zone. As a result, some of Dorset’s significant fisheries and policies such as minimum landing sizes (crabs and lobster) are set by national legislation and not the CFP.

There is a third level of regulation within 6 miles of the coast through the byelaws of the Southern Sea Fisheries Committee (SSFC) which must be approved by DEFRA. The most wide-reaching of these limit the size of vessels within the District and require vessels to be registered, whilst others prescribe shellfish seasons and other restrictions on landing size or gear.

Water Quality

The control of pollution and maintenance of water quality in the coastal zone involves a combination of international collaboration and national approach to the control of both land and sea based pollutants. It is impossible to separate management into marine and terrestrial, as land based pollution can affect coastal waters through seepage and river basins.

DEFRA controls the disposal and placement of materials in the sea both during construction work or for the purpose of their disposal, by means of licences issued under the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985. Such licences are administered by the Marine Consents and Environment Unit (MCEU) and require a detailed environmental impact assessment prior to a licence being issued.

The discharge of pollution from vessels is controlled through the international convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973 (MARPOL). In the UK, this convention is implemented through various Merchant Shipping Regulations, which cover the discharge of oil, toxic substances, dangerous goods, sewage and garbage. They apply to all UK ships (and all other ships in UK territorial waters). Under these regulations, if oil or other substances are spilled at sea, the Maritime Coastguard Agency (MCA) is responsible for containing and clearing them.

However, once oil reaches the land, regulations are not as clear and a non-statutory responsibility is currently taken by local authorities that produce non-statutory emergency plans detailing clean-up procedures for the coastline.

Responsibility for discharge consents on land and overall water quality and pollution control within the 3 nautical mile limit lies with the Environment Agency (EA), under the Water Resources Act, 1991 and the Environmental Protection Act, 1990. These responsibilities include the monitoring, specification, and achievement of statutory water quality objectives. In addition, the EA are the ‘competent authority’ responsible for achieving the requirement of several EU Directives including:

Bathing Water Directive (76/160/EEC) - has the joint objectives of raising and maintaining bathing water quality and protecting public health. Due to changes in recreation patterns and technology, the 1976 version of the Bathing Waters Directive is deemed to be outdated and so is being revised.

Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (91/271/EEC) - requires member states to adopt a consistent approach to sewage treatment facilities, setting standards for discharges into coastal waters.

Shellfish Waters Directive (79/923/EEC) - aims to protect shellfish populations by setting water quality standards in areas where shellfish grow and reproduce. The Directive requires that certain substances are monitored in the water in which the shellfish live.

The Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) - is the most substantial piece of EC water legislation to date. It requires all inland and coastal waters to reach "good status" by 2015. It will do this by establishing a river basin district structure within which demanding environmental objectives will be set, including ecological targets for surface waters. The Directive came into force on 22 December 2000. Member States have three years from that date to transpose it into national law (December 2003). Responsibility ultimately lies with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. A Consultation paper issued in October 2002 confirmed the Government's intention to designate the Environment Agency as competent authority for the Directive. A third consultation is planned for later in 2003.

Integrated Coastal Zone Management

Integrated coastal zone management is in itself an oxymoron as it is actually impossible to fully integrate management within two such diverse elements such as sea and land. .

Coastal Fora – The Dorset Coast Forum

In 1995, due to the lack of a specific Coastal Zone Management Act and the diversity of interests and organisations involved in coastal management the Dorset Coast Forum was established. This forum enabled the diverse interests along the coast to exchange views and debate issues that were of fundamental importance to the successful management of the Coast. The Forum which remains at the forefront of Dorset 's Coastal management, has no legal standing, but is a gathering of voices, boasting a membership of over 130 member organisations from the public, private and voluntary sectors representing a wide range of viewpoints. Interests include nature conservation, landscape, tourism, recreation, ports and shipping, fisheries, oil and gas exploration and exploitation, and marine aggregate production. Those responsible for the overall management of the coast are represented through coastal planning and development officers, coastal defence engineers and water quality and pollution experts.

In May 1999, the Forum produced a non-statutory Dorset Coast Strategy based on a consensus approach. The strategy, updated in 2002, is a visionary statement, indicating how those working and living on the coast can co-operate to work towards a sustainable future for orset's coastal zone. In 2005 a further document – State of the Dorset Coast- reflecting on success was published, outlining the challenges for the future.

A UK Coastal Strategy?

Four years ago, in May 2002, European Member States adopted an EU recommendation on implementing integrated coastal zone management in Europe . Under this recommendation member states were requested to undertake a national stock-take of legislation, institutions and stakeholders involved in the management of the coastal zone and, based on this, to develop national strategies to deliver ICZM.

In response to finding of the studies instigated by the ICZM recommendation the UK Government has been preparing a draft national strategy on ICZM. A consultation seeking views on how an integrated approach to the management of the coastal zone could be implemented in England was published on 12 June 2006 . This included references to the importance of the non-statutory Coastal Fora, such as the Dorset Coast Forum, mentioned above.

In addition to the ICZM strategy the UK government is now committed to bringing forward proposals for new primary legislation; a Marine Bill, to introduce a framework for managing the UK's marine areas to ensure better integration in the planning of different activities at sea, whilst balancing conservation, energy and resource needs.

Hence on the 29 March 2006 , DEFRA issued a Mari ne Bill consultation document to ensure that all interested parties had the opportunity to contribute opinions at an early stage of policy development. The consultation document outlines a number of themes, including:

• Managing marine fisheries
• Planning in the marine area
• Licensing marine activities
• Improving marine nature conservation
• The potential for a new marine management organisation
• Marine spatial Planning

Further information on the progress of the Marine Bill and ICZM Strategy may be found on the DEFRA website.