This is an archive web page that records the RTPI's responses to the DEFRA 2007 Marine White Paper.  Current RTPI marine planning work can be found on the marine planning home page.

Marine White Paper Response

White paper proposals of immediate significance for planners and the planning system include:

• a new marine planning system, which largely reflects advice provided to DEFRA in the RTPI's Marine Policy Statement of June 2006;
• a new high level UK marine planning policy framework;
• marine plan making for sea regions, to provide a consistent and integrated policy basis for marine approvals;
• marine licensing decisions to accord with the provisions of marine plans;
• a Marine Management Organisation (MMO) to act as planning authority in the marine environment, subject to more detailed devolved arrangements for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Such reforms would provide a significant requirement for planning skills, whilst also posing a challenge to land based planners to ensure that they obtain relevant qualifications, skills and experience to develop the competencies necessary to work in the marine environment. †The RTPI has established a Marine Spatial Planning Task Group to keep these matters under close review.

Summary RTPI Analysis

• Click here to download the RTPI response to the Marine white paper.

The reform proposals in the marine white paper appear broadly supportable, as does the nature and the shape of the proposed marine planning system.

Key issues for further consideration prior to the introduction of legislation will be:

• to ensure that the marine planning system is a spatial planning system;
• to provide for a flexible, continuously improved and electronically delivered UK marine planning policy framework;
• to provide for a unified marine plan making and licensing arrangement for Scotland, by way of an intergovernmental agreement on the seas; and
• to provide enabling powers for marine plan making and license determination functions for sub-regions to be delegated to partnerships including terrestrial and environmental agencies, included devolved nation, region and local government and bodies such as the environment agency.

The principle of ‘one proposal, one license’ should be strongly supported. †There should be an end goal of harmonising all marine licensing and consenting under a single regime.

It will be important to further link the plan making and licensing functions in the marine white paper.

• Marine plans can be linked to effective de-regulation and implementation, by enabling them to define baskets of use and development types that are deemed to be licensed in particular waters, subject to compliance with plan policy and standard monitoring provisions.
• There should be means of appeal against adverse licensing decisions by immediately interested stakeholders.
• There may be an argument for compensation for the revocation of a license for a previously lawful use or development, although this should not be applied as a universal principle.

There are strong linkages between the marine white paper and the heritage white paper, which proposes a strengthened system of heritage protection for marine cultural assets. It appears important that there should be the maximum integration between marine planning and licensing and marine heritage designation and management processes.

A consultation response has been prepared, taking into account the views of the RTPI Marine Spatial Planning Task Group. It includes the following recommendations

• DEFRA is recommended to proceed with the proposals as generally outlined in the white paper, subject to refinements of detail to address the issues outlined above.
• DEFRA is recommended to liaise further with DCMS, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish heritage agencies to seek the best possible convergence between the marine heritage proposals and the marine planning and licensing systems.

•  Click here to return to the Marine Planning Home Page

Author:

Rynd Smith

Publisher:

The Royal Town Planning Institute

Date:

07-Apr-08

Categories:

Policy 

Sections:

The RTPI

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