Marine Spatial Planning in a Scottish Context

Graham U’ren, Director of RTPI in Scotland, began the presentations with an in depth look at Marine Spatial Planning in Scotland.

Please click here for the full presentation or read on for a summary of the talk.

The concept of Marine Spatial Planning is new to most people who immediately ask what town planners have to do with this and if councillors will have to approve applications for the right to fish or sail boats.  At a time when the Scottish Executive is also carrying out a root and branch review of the terrestrial (Town and Country) planning system, the need to examine ways of reconciling the increasing pressures for use of the sea is an opportune time to consider what spatial planning really is and how the core discipline is not a matter of town planning or any other particular type of planning but a valuable generic approach to making prudent forward provision for the way in which we use any form of space on land or at sea.  The end result may not be anything like the statutory Town and Country Planning system but it will be based on the same core principles.  In a Scottish context, this raises a number of challenges in order to secure a fully integrated approach under the circumstances of devolution.

The presentation was split into five sections:

1 The need for MSP
2  Defining spatial planning principles
3  Making MSP work
4  Issues for Scotland
5  Planning at the local level

1 - The need for Marine Spatial Planning.

Graham began with two quotes highlighting the need for MSP before going on to discuss the needs of MSP.

“There is an increase in development pressures for sectors that rely on the natural resources of the sea and sectors which use space and location advantages offered by the marine environment; in combination they create potential conflicts that a marine spatial planning system could help resolve”
D Tyldesley Associates 2003

“ There is good evidence that this activity (fishing) subjects the marine environment to some of the greatest stresses. But other activities cause problems too, such as pollution from land, aggregates extraction, pollution from shipping and impacts from oil and gas extraction. In future there are likely to be increasing efforts to produce energy from offshore wind farms and wave and tidal stream devices”
Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution (RCEP) 25th Report

MSP must:

• add value, not just be about conflict resolution
• identify potential opportunities for development not just constrained areas
• Contribute to sustainable development
• Not be just another layer of environmental control
• Take the long term view

2 - Defining spatial planning principles

Spatial Planning is described by RTPI as “ A New Vision for Planning” (RTPI, 2001).

It is spatial, integrated, inclusive, sustainable, value driven and action orientated.

However, there are a number of different challenges for spatial planning in the marine environment:

• A three dimensional, dynamic environment
• Undifferentiated territory
• Public rights, not private ownership
• Central not local government roles
• Community interests
• Development issues
• Activity issues
• Conservation issues

The Irish Sea MSP pilot established that the process of Marine Spatial Planning is the same as terrestrial spatial planning, for the following reasons:

• goal and objective setting
• scoping and data collection
• forecasting
• analysis and options generation
• evaluation and option selection
• public examination of preferred plan
• adoption, implementation, monitoring and review

Adoption of a spatial plan requires an appointed body with jurisdiction and compliance with higher tiers of plans and policies, where appropriate.  Implementation of a spatial plan, remembering that it is more than just a plan, needs regulation and enforcement, programme development and enabling.

3 - Making MSP work

Graham described the Marine Spatial Planning Pilot project in the Irish Sea, commissioned by Defra in December 2004 to research planning options and the practicalities for developing, implementing and managing marine plans in UK coastal and offshore waters.  The final report published in February 2006 contained a number of recommendations and benefits from the Pilot Study.

Irish Sea Pilot recommendations:

• MSP should be a statutory, 3 tier hierarchical system
• MSP should be based on Regional Seas to 200nm across boundaries, with sub region (local) non statutory plans as required
• There should be a Marine Management Organisation (MMO) and integrated regulation
• SEA and public participation must be used
• There should be 5 year reviews, with 20 year horizons
• Preferred development locations and multi-use zones

Irish Sea Pilot benefits:

• delivering sustainable development
• clearer direction for environmental objectives and management
• economic and social benefits from optimisation of sea use and greater locational certainty
• simplified and integrated regulation and administration
• forum for stakeholder engagement
• rationale for data collection

Current Systems

The presentation then went on to describe current systems in Scotland, which included:

• Orkney and Zetland Act works licence
• Marine Fish Farm Locational guidelines
• Highland Aquaculture framework plans
• Planning Control of marine fish farms

4 - Issues for Scotland

The issues for MSP in Scotland were then described, these issues include:

• The UK Marine Bill
• A new Marine Management Organisation or MMO
• Integration of regulatory regimes
• Devolved and reserved functions
• Territorial seas
• National policy for Scotland and the National Planning Framework
• The regional level

5 - Planning at the local level

Graham finished of the presentation by emphasizing the need for planning at a local level and highlighted:

• The need for local plans
• The difference between MSP and Intergrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM)
• Integrated spatial planning, both horizontally and vertically
• The role of strategies in spatial planning
• Aspects of Sub regional/local MSPs and ICZM strategies; Town and Country Planning system; Regional MSP (geographical and jurisdictional); Marine national parks

Further information on RTPI go to www.rtpi.org.uk or RTPI in Scotland go to www.rtpi.org.uk/rtpi_in_scotland

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