Our first ever marine plans consultation – a real milestone for the organisation – closed on 8 October after the July launch of the draft plans for the seas from Flamborough Head in the north to Felixstowe in the south.
Reponses came from local authorities, ports and shipping, aggregates, leisure industries, fishing bodies, government, coastal partnerships, nature bodies and other sectors.
Many groups and organisations were involved in the drop-in sessions along the East coast, held this summer, to ensure as many people as possible heard about the draft plans and commented. We also publicised our short animation film to explain marine planning to explain why marine planning is so important for the future of our seas.
The public consultation covered the first two of 11 marine plans to be delivered for England, and we are one of the first countries in the world to plan across all marine activities.
It is hoped that the reduced costs and increased certainty provided by marine planning will create greater development opportunities leading to increased economic and employment benefits for coastal communities.
Once all the comments are logged, we will seek to resolve any outstanding issues together with marine users. A modification report will then be produced to explain how we have taken responses into account and any amendments made to the marine plans.
