Marine and Coastal Access Act
The Marine and Coastal Access Act seeks to improve management and increase protection of the marine environment and improve recreational access to England’s coasts.
What is in the Marine and Coastal Access Act?
This is a large and complex Act that will have a significant impact on the way biodiversity and the use of our seas is managed.
Among the provisions, the Marine and Coastal Access Act will:
Establish a new Marine Management Organisation to produce marine plans, administer marine environmental licensing, manage marine fisheries and enforce environmental protection laws. The Marine Management Organisation will be an independent non-Departmental Public Body, and will deliver marine functions for the UK Government as a whole.
Introduce a new system of marine planning which will include setting out long-term objectives for the marine area around the UK in a Marine Policy Statement and more detailed marine plans setting spatial policy at a more local level.
Introduce a streamlined, transparent and consistent system for licensing marine developments providing, as far as possible, a one-stop shop for each project. The new system will replace existing controls under Part II of the Coast Protection Act 1949 and Part II of the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985.
Introduce a flexible new mechanism for the designation of Marine Conservation Zones which together with European Marine Sites will form a representative network of Marine Protected Areas. This will help fulfil the UK’s European and International commitments for the establishment of coherent and representative network of Marine Protected Areas.
Strengthen the management of marine fisheries, including by replacing Sea Fisheries Committees with new bodies called Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities and enhancing legislation underpinning sea fisheries conservation and shellfish management.
Reform and modernise powers for the licensing and management of migratory and freshwater fisheries.
Streamline and modernise enforcement powers including the introduction of a common set of powers so that officers enforcing fisheries, nature conservation and licensing legislation will have access to a core set of enforcement powers.
Introduce new powers to extend recreational access to the English coast and enable the creation of a continuous access route around the English coast.
More information about the Marine and Coastal Access Act can be found on the Defra website
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Natural England’s view on the Marine and Coastal Access Act
The Marine and Coastal Access Act is a landmark piece of legislation which Natural England greatly welcomes. In terms of protecting our seas, it provides Government, Parliament and stakeholders with a once in a generation opportunity to ensure the delivery of robust legislation which is fit-for-purpose and can deliver the vital network of Marine Conservation Zones.
We strongly believe its key aim should be to restore what has been lost and to safeguard for the future our biologically diverse marine environment. The Marine and Coastal Access Act has provided an excellent starting point with the provisions for the improvement of planning in the marine environment and recognition that marine protected sites will need to form a single Marine Protected Areas network. We feel that these measures will assist in achieving the Government's vision of cleaner, safer, more productive and biologically diverse oceans and seas.
