Marine Spatial Planning
Overview
In December 2004, Defra commissioned a consortium comprising ABP Marine Environmental Research Ltd (ABPmer), Terence O'Rourke, Risk & Policy Analysts, Geotek, Hartley Anderson and Coastal Management for Sustainability (the MSPP Consortium) to research options for developing, implementing and managing marine spatial planning (MSP) in UK coastal and offshore waters. Marine spatial planning is a process by which the sustainable exploitation of marine resources can be planned and managed. While the process will result in the preparation and adoption of a marine spatial plan, in the long-term it is the process of planning and ongoing management of marine development within that framework that is more significant than the plan itself. Marine Spatial Planning is likely to be a component of the Marine Bill and will be instrumental in achieving a sustainable approach to marine development.
The study had two key objectives. Firstly, to obtain a better understanding and appreciation of available evidence and experiences to date in the field of spatial planning and its relevance and applicability to UK marine and coastal waters. Secondly, and more importantly, Defra wanted to undertake a pilot project to determine the feasibility and practicality of developing and applying a marine spatial plan.
The project has been overseen by a Project Management Group, chaired by Defra and including key government interests. Stakeholders have also been involved at all stages of the project to simulate, as far as possible, the consultation process.
The programme of work comprised a number of elements:
- A literature review.
- The development of a suggested process for marine spatial planning and management.
- A pilot project that simulated the development of a marine spatial plan.
- An exploration of the relationship between regional marine spatial plans and the plethora existing marine plans.
- Preparation of an initial Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA).
- Preparation of a final report including conclusions and recommendations.
The stages required for the production of a marine plan include the initial setting of goals and objectives, scoping and data collection, forecasting, analysis and generating spatial options. These options are then evaluated in the production of the Regional Marine Spatial Plan, which involves extensive consultation before a Sustainability Appraisal/Strategic Environmental Assessment, and ultimately adoption and implementation of the plan. Subsequent monitoring should lead to a greater understanding of the plan's successes and failures and provide an objective basis for subsequent plan reviews. The development of a simulated plan for part of the Irish Sea provided an important opportunity to test aspects of the suggested marine spatial planning and management framework.
The pilot project represented the first attempt in the UK to develop a marine spatial plan at a regional scale. Inevitably, development of the plan identified a number of information gaps both in relation to policies, objectives and targets and also for spatial data. Nevertheless, in bringing together the wide range of existing information the pilot project was able to effectively simulate the plan production process and to demonstrate how such information could be used for decision-making and ongoing management.
