The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) has been tasked with identifying uses and users of the coast through 11 marine planning areas.
The MMO will be producing marine plans for all plan areas. The information compiled about each of these zones will help inform important marine planning decisions.
This is of strategic importance to Surfers Against Sewage given the general historic lack of awareness & recognition of fragile and finite nature of surfing resources amongst regulators & the general public, the little documented mapping of important surfing zones and information on the concerns from local recreational water sports enthusiasts about potential impacts on local waves, oceans and beaches. The UK’s first marine planning zone was the East Coast. The MMO are currently collecting evidence for all other marine planning areas.
In 2012, SAS consulted local communities across the first marine planning area on the east coast of England. We spoke to respondents from each county in the plan area- 12% were from East Yorkshire, 17% from Lincolnshire, 55% from Norfolk and 16% from Suffolk. Their concerns included sewage pollution & water quality, marine litter and site-specific concerns including the threat of pollution and radioactive waste from the nuclear power station Sizewell B, conflict between surfers and fishing boats in Norfolk and also offshore wind turbines and the potential impact these might have on the surf. Detailed information on the East Coast marine planning zone was collated and submitted to the Marine Management Organisation.
Marine Spatial Planning Zone consultations are now open for all other regions.