Marine Planning: A sea change for
the UK marine aggregate sector?
Mark Russell
Director
British Marine Aggregate Producers Association
Origins & meaning of ‘sea change’
“Full fathom five thy father lies,
Of his bones are coral made,
Those are pearls that were his eyes,
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea-change,
into something rich and strange,
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell,
Ding-dong.
Hark! now I hear them, ding-dong, bell.”
William Shakespeare, The Tempest (1623)
GB need for construction aggregates
206 Mt per annum (2010), of which:
• 58 Mt secondary/recycled aggregates (28%)
• 148 Mt primary aggregates (72%)
Equivalent to over 4t per person each year
Marine contribution
• Total of 19.12 Mt dredged (2011)
- 11.52 Mt landed in England/Wales
- 1.49 Mt used for coast defence/fill
- 6.1 Mt landed in Europe
•
•
•
•
•
7.5% UK primary aggregates
20% England & Wales sand and gravel
35% South East primary aggregates
50% London construction aggregates
90% South Wales sand
Tidal Barrage Schemes
Nuclear New Builds
Marine aggregates support climate change adaptation strategies
& major infrastructure development
Gas Storage
Port Developments
Marine aggregates support flood & coast defence projects
>38 million tonnes since 1990
Thames Barrier
Sea Palling Reefs
Beach Nourishment
Background to the UK industry
Involves:
• 70 licence areas
• 26 vessels (500 staff & direct
replacement fleet value of £1 billion)
• 68 GB wharves (600 staff directly
plus further 600 for delivery)
• Provides 13% GB concrete
aggregates (sector as a whole worth
£4.8 billion with 30,000 jobs)
Distribution of the UK industry
North West
Humber
East Coast
Thames
South
West
South
Coast
East English
Channel
• Landuse
• Tourism
• Oil & Gas
• Mariculture
• Coast
Defence
• Ports &
Navigation
• Military
Activities
• Culture
• Conservation
• Dredging &
Disposal
• Submarine
Cables
• Fishing
• Renewable
Energy
• Marine
Recreation
• Mineral
Extraction
Practical examples of planning failure
 Offshore Wind Farm developments proposed on top of existing
marine aggregate interests (lack of awareness)
 Oil pipeline laid directly through a long standing production
licence area (lack of awareness)
 Cables (telecommunication and power) laid across East Channel
Region sterilise 80 Million tonnes of potential resource (£800M)
(absence of strategic planning – safeguard resources)
 Applications for new marine aggregate interests halted or
constrained as a result of data collected on nature conservation
grounds
(poor baseline understanding of resources - uncertainty)
Wind farms
Also future opportunities…
Managing risk & uncertainty
“When contemplating the future, it is useful to consider
three classes of knowledge:
• things we know,
• things we know we don’t know,
• and things we don’t know we don’t know
The greatest havoc is caused by the third.”
P. Schumaker, Risk Assessment Expert
UK Marine & Coastal Access Act 2009
• Legislative framework to deliver a more consistent and integrated
approach for planning, managing and protecting UK seas – aligned
with MSFD requirements
• Founded in the principles of sustainable development – social &
economic needs as well as environmental protection
• Four main components:
- Creation of a Marine Management Organisation
- Establishment of a Marine Planning system
- Simplified Licensing regime – better regulation
- Nature Conservation - designation of Marine Conservation Zones
• Underpinned by a new UK Marine Policy Statement
UK Marine Policy Statement, 2011
‘The MPS will facilitate and support the formulation of Marine Plans,
ensuring that marine resources are used in a sustainable way in line
with the high level marine objectives and thereby:
• Promote sustainable economic development;
• Enable the UK’s move towards a low-carbon economy, in order
to mitigate the causes of climate change and ocean acidification
and adapt to their effects;
• Ensure a sustainable marine environment which promotes
healthy, functioning marine ecosystems and protects marine
habitats, species and our heritage assets; and
• Contribute to the societal benefits of the marine area, including
the sustainable use of marine resources to address local social
and economic issues.’
‘Marine plan authorities should as a minimum make
provision within Marine Plans for a level of supply of
marine sand and gravel that ensures that marine
aggregates… …contribute to the overarching Government
objective of securing an adequate and continuing supply
to the UK market for various uses. In doing so, marine
plan authorities should consider the potential long-term
requirement for marine won sand and gravel, taking into
account trends in construction activity, likely climate
change adaptation strategies and major project
development.’
UK Marine Policy Statement, 2011
Defines the UK sectors ‘licence to operate’
English Marine Plan Areas
• Planning in English waters
commenced in April 2011
• 10 plan areas defined
• Areas 3 & 4 (East Inshore
& Offshore) being
developed first
• First plans by end 2013
• All plans in place by 2021
• Requirement to review
plans every 5 years
Industry’s hopes for planning
• A clear & unambiguous translation of UK Government
objectives, priorities and associated policy (MPS) for the
sustainable use and protection of the national marine
area – recognising needs both now and into the future
• Manage not only the conflicts/tensions between activities
& uses, but also the dependencies and interdependencies to enable sustainable development
• Consistent approach across marine plan areas (English &
UK) and with adjacent terrestrial planning regimes
• Sufficient evidence to allow robust, proportionate and
risk-based decisions to be taken with respect to marine
planning, licensing, management & protection
Will marine planning = a ‘sea change’?
“Full fathom five thy father lies,
Of his bones are coral made,
Those are pearls that were his eyes,
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea-change,
into something rich and strange,
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell,
Ding-dong.
Hark! now I hear them, ding-dong, bell.”
William Shakespeare, The Tempest (1623)
[email protected]
www.bmapa.org