RTPI Response to the Draft Marine Bill

27-Jun-08

This page summarises the response. By clicking the headline below, you can also download a print ready portable document format version of the response as submitted. The bullet points beneath it take you to a copy of the covering letter to DEFRA and to a powerpoint presentation that can be used to discuss the RTPI's position.

RESPONSE TO DEFRA CONSULTATION:
THE DRAFT MARINE BILL

Covering letter to DEFRA
Powerpoint presentation

The draft Marine Bill represents a substantial body of work for DEFRA, conducted over a sustained time period. The RTPI has contributed to this work throughout, developing its views in two documents prior to this response:

a policy statement on marine spatial planning (2006); and
a formal response to the marine white paper (2007).

The RTPI is conscious of the high quality of the draft bill: of the way that it has been prepared to address a complex and inter-relating set of factors to generate a new planning system for the UK marine area and to bring about broad changes to marine licensing and regulation. Our general response to those elements of the Bill that bear on marine planning and licensing is to congratulate DEFRA for the commitment and rigour shown thus far and to express the strong hope that this continues in the development of the system.

Generally, the sound and rigorous approach to statutory drafting in the draft bill should avoid the need for substantial government amendments to it when the legislation is introduced to Parliament in due course. We strongly hope that the draft bill lays a sound foundation for the early development of legal certainty in marine spatial planning concepts once a bill before Parliament receives Royal assent.

Whilst the broad thrust of the draft legislation is welcome, the paragraphs below summarise the RTPI’s views about the development of marine spatial planning as a whole, many of which we trust will support the government’s resolve to legislate. That being said, there are some outstanding issues in respect of which members consider that some improvements to the draft bill could still be made, and these are set out in more detailed paragraphs on page 3 of this response.

Principles of the proposed system

The RTPI strongly endorses the view that a marine spatial planning system should be developed for the UK.

This should closely complement and integrate with systems developed to regulate marine waters within the devolved nations. In this regard, it is a matter of concern that the draft bill to does not provide for a marine policy, plan making and licensing arrangement that is fully shared with Scotland and (in part) Northern Ireland. Whilst domestic marine legislation in these jurisdictions is anticipated, better enabling provisions at the UK level could be included in the draft bill. This could be reinforced by an intergovernmental agreement on UK seas, that could usefully engage sovereign nations with marine areas abutting the UK.

Marine spatial planning should also closely complement and integrate with terrestrial spatial planning, river basin and coastal zone management planning systems. Mechanisms of ensuring effective community involvement in plan making and decision making should be further explored, particularly in intensively used and densely populated regions such as estuaries. These should include the use of enabling powers in the bill as drafted 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.
However, a plethora of overlapping plans, strategies and consultative processes should be avoided and regulation should respond to demonstrated needs for control and should be as simple as possible.

In establishing a new planning system in the 21st century, the RTPI notes that it is possible to step away from the documentary methods of 20th century planning, to provide for an electronically delivered UK marine planning policy framework, where the relationship between data, assumptions, options, plan policies and outcomes will be much easier to express, manage and monitor than using paper documentation. Whilst paper documents may still be required for some consultative purposes, the presumption should be in favour of an electronic planning framework.

Statutory policy and plan-making

The RTPI considers that the marine spatial planning system should have a statutory basis, broadly as provided in the draft Marine Bill – but this should include a duty to plan where expedient to do so.

The RTPI particularly welcomes the proposal for a national Marine Policy Statement, which we see as integrated policy for the seas and supports the proposal that marine plans should be in conformity with it.

The RTPI welcomes the proposed Marine Management Organisation (MMO) as a plan-making body, but recognises the need for Ministers to retain the power to approve plans.

The RTPI welcomes proposals for the preparation of marine plans within a flexible statutory framework.

The RTPI considers that the level of detail and control in any marine spatial plans should be set to meet spatial requirements, having regard to the intensity of existing and proposed use and development of the marine environment in particular regions and localities, together with the characteristics of their marine environment. This drives us towards a flexible plan-making framework, where some plan regions may have simple, high level frameworks that respond to the few, long term planning issues that bear on them, whilst others may require greater levels of detail or even the development of nested plans with greater detail in a lower tier document.

Where necessary, marine spatial policy would be transparently set out in a cascade, which would include UK and national policy, marine region policy and local marine area policy, where this is warranted.

The relationship between plan-making and licensing

The policy in plans should establish a strong and transparent basis for an integrated approach to marine licensing and consent. Clause 63(1) should call up the plan as a consideration that the licensing authority must have regard.

Consideration should be given to marine zoning tools driven by policy in marine plans and underpinned by Clause 67(1) as means of providing permitted development rights in the marine environment, where potential use, development or management appears to be beneficial and benign and are supported by the purpose of the zone. Similarly, such tools can set the triggers for marine consent, where the benefit or benignity of a proposal is not so clear cut, or provide that certain activities are prohibited in certain places, where they would conflict with established zone purposes.

Such approaches hold out the potential to significantly further simplify the licensing regime and de-regulate the marine environment, whilst attuning even more clearly to the strategic issues identified in the Marine Policy Statement and marine plans than would the system set out in the draft bill.
The principle of ‘one proposal, one license’ is strongly supported, and to this extent, the RTPI considers that there should be an end goal of harmonising all marine licensing and consenting under a single regime, although it is recognised that achieving this goal will take some time and further legislation.

Heritage

The RTPI notes linkages between the marine and the heritage white papers. It calls for the maximum integration between marine planning and licensing and marine heritage designation and management processes. In this regard, the current draft Heritage Protection Bill does not appear to optimise relationships between (fundamentally terrestrial) heritage authorities and the proposed MMO. The RTPI considers that the MMO, as an expert marine plan making, licensing and monitoring body, is well placed to maintain a register of marine heritage assets and to be the point to which initial applications for marine heritage consent are made.

Other Matters

In its debates on the draft Bill, the RTPI marine spatial planning task group raised the following issues in more detail. It considers that these should be addressed in the period before the draft is introduced to Parliament, or indeed before related legislation or regulation is introduced in devolved national parliaments or assemblies.

In summary, these issues are the need to further consider:

relationships between marine planning and Planning Bill National Policy Statements (NPS) and the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC);
how best to enable flexible and discretionary plan-making for the marine environment;
means for the scrutiny of draft marine plans;
the relationship between plan-making and licensing and scope for better regulation; and
a clearer approach to licensing and enforcement appeals.

Detailed Response

The detailed response can be accessed by clicking on the headline link at the top of this article.

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