1. International MSP Symposium
16th May 2012
Marine Planning in England
What are we learning?
Paul Gilliland
Marine Planning
Development Manager

2. Outline
• What and why
• Legislation and high level policy
• Where and when
• Costs and resourcing
• Evidence, analysis, research
• Stakeholder engagement
• Defining key issues
• Outputs/outcomes
• Challenges
• Lessons

3. Why do we need marine planning?
Overarching driver – Increasing and competing use
of marine space and resources, impacting on the
sustainability of the marine environment

4. Perceived benefits but also expectations
• Sustainable use of marine resources
• Greater certainty for investors/developers
• Improved basis for addressing cumulative effects
• ‘Regional seas’ governance (ecosystem approach)
• Proactive and forward planning
• Plan for new activities and changing technologies
• Framework for consistent decision making
• Cohesion with coastal and terrestrial plans (ICZM)
• Early involvement of stakeholders (“democratic deficit”)

5. Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009
• Long lead in time and preparatory work
• Supported by main political parties (commitment)
• Complex piece of legislation – Licensing, Fisheries,
Nature Conservation, Coastal Access, Marine
planning  “be careful what you wish for”
• Marine Management Organisation (April 2010)
• Planning, licensing, fisheries, conservation delivery
• Cross-government ‘agency’ (£)
• Dedicated ‘core’ planning team (long haul) + in
house support
• Deliberately recruit from different backgrounds
• New organisation!

6. The legal requirement for marine planning
• Aim: contribute to and help deliver sustainable development.
• Integrated approach (important message)
• across environmental, economic and social factors
• across sectors (including interactions, policies)
• with other plans (including terrestrial)
• Marine Policy Statement (MPS): the overarching policy
framework for the UK marine area (UK Govt and Devolved
Administrations)
• Marine Plans will translate the MPS into detailed policy and
spatial guidance for each plan area (MMO, SoS)
• All plan ‘areas’ (sub-divisions around the coast)
• Guide and direct decision makers, including Licensing
• No timetable prescribed but report/review every 3-6 years

7. Marine Policy Statement
• High level framework which should ensure consistency
• 22 Goals (High Level Marine Objectives):
• Achieving a sustainable marine economy
• Ensuring a strong, healthy and just society
• Living within environmental limits
• Promoting good governance
• Using sound science responsibly
• Strategic environmental, social and economic considerations
• Policy objectives for key activities/sectors
• Generally broad (only explicit target is for renewables)
• No a priori prioritisation  to be done at plan level

8. Where and when
Boundaries
• Limit of tidal influence to ‘EEZ’
• Potentially very wide scope
and variation in level of detail
Overall timetable
• Estimate 2 years for each plan
(2.5 if ‘examination’ required)
• Assume two at a time
• Complete first cycle by 2021
• Evaluate ≤ 3 years  Review?
Reassessed recently, end
date unchanged but overlap
(lead in time)

9. East marine plan areas
58,700 km2
Timeline (two years) Inshore and Offshore
• Dec 2010: Announce, prep 2 plans, 1 process (87%)
• April 2011: Start
• Feb 2012: Evidence & Issues
• May: Draft Objectives/Vision
• July: Options
• Sept: draft plan to government
• Jan 2013: consultation
• April 2013: revised
Relentless  share ‘lead’ role;
more time to pause?
Developing whilst doing 
take longer the first time?

10. “Show me someone that’s never made a mistake and I’ll
show you someone that’s never made anything”
 a difficult message to get over and work around

11. Resource planning : Costs (and Benefits)
• ‘Impact Assessment’ of planning vs ‘do nothing’. Benefits:
• Best estimate: £487 million [$779m] over twenty years
• Environmental benefits difficult to quantify
• Savings to business sectors, e.g. activity costs
• Costs
• £2.7 million [$4.3m] per plan (all elements, e.g. Staff > evidence
gathering > Sustainability Appraisal > consultation)
• £0.54 million [$0.86m] per review (assumes 20% of original
costs) every six years
• Resources : core funding from UK government
• Too early to judge but for now £ seems less limiting than time
• Demands may fluctuate over time but ‘same’ resource

12. Technical Evidence and analysis
• National: Strategic Scoping Report
• The ‘big picture’ to set plan area in context
• Includes analysis of potential future opportunities
• Inform plan-level objectives (and priorities?)
• Research: Various gaps but timing a challenge
• Co-location
• Recreation interests: distribution
• Cumulative effects
• Socio-economic study: help to understand the impact of
marine planning on different types of coastal community
• East inshore and East offshore data & information
• Substantial data collation /presentation

13. Technical data collation and GIS analysis
• Building on existing projects, e.g.
MCZs, SEA, CP2
• Working with organisations &
data sharing where possible
• Local stakeholders input:
• Data, verification
• On-line marine planning portal
• GIS analysis (iterative, simplify)
• Methods
• Integration

14. Stakeholder engagement – plan areas
•• Local stakeholder engagement
Statements of Public Participation (SPP)
-- informs people of how and when they can become involved
Individual interests and groups
-- published April 2011
Work with existing partnerships, links to other projects (eg MPAs)
-- signed off by Government (Secretary of State, Defra)
No formal bespoke structures or groups
- Liaison officers + range of meetings, workshops, events

15. Participation and Consultation
• December 2011 workshops
• Three locations, ~150 participants
• Marine planning focus inc. ‘Key issues’
• Interactive, various ‘tasks’ inc. Futures
• 90% positive feedback (84 returns)
• The process is as important as the
product
• Different ways to communicate, e.g.
• Drop in sessions
• 3 D model

16. Getting to the point
• Evidence on Key activities, social,
economic & environmental
interests
• Emerging Issues
• For sector delivery, other
sectors, and sustainability
• Several hundred
• Vision and Objectives report
• 58 ‘headline issues’
• Distil further
• Stakeholders to refine?
• More evidence for some?

17. We have Not got all the answers to
everyone’s problems

18. Clarifying/Reassuring - Planning outputs/outcomes
Planning
Prescription
& Decisions
Change over time?
Planning
Signals & Guidance
Increase over time
Evidence Collation
& Analysis

19. Some headline lessons learnt
• Political commitment is critical
• Legislative basis almost certainly essential
• (Dedicated planning body) with a core team is essential
• A framework of principles, goals/objective and policies is a
good start, some prioritisation is even better
• Need allocated resources preferably over a sustained period
• Try to focus - on the key issues, prioritised evidence
• Need a timetable but also some flexibility if possible
particularly in the early days
• Stakeholder engagement - different means, be creative
• Do NOT underestimate the challenge, however good your
planning it will probably take more time and more effort

20. www.marinemanagement.org.uk/marineplanning
Portal: planningportal.marinemanagement.org.uk
Email: planning@marinemanagement.org.uk
Marine Planning team Local
Flamborough Head to Skegness 01472 355112
The Wash to Weybourne 01502 573149
Sheringham to Felixstowe 01502 573149
Marine Planning team Newcastle
0191 376 2790