I’m back! Regular GGG readers may have noticed that it has been some time since I wrote a post for this fantastic blog and I would like to apologise for that. However I hope that you will forgive me as I have been in the middle of selling my house and relocating. Whilst I have lots of interesting news that I could post on GGG, I thought that I would start off by providing you all with an update about the Marine Bill Campaign.

Marine and Coastal Access Bill

After extensive campaigning from a wide range of environmental and conservation organisations the UK Government has included the Marine Bill (now called the Marine and Coastal Access Bill) in its draft legislative programme. This is absolutely fantastic news for the environment and marine life, however before we all get excited I would like to highlight that whilst there is a strong indication that it will be mentioned in the Queens speech (and thus be brought forward to Parliament) there is no guarantee.

Good – but could be better

I have read a couple of different summary documents for the Marine and Coastal Access Bill (not yet had time to read the whole draft Bill in great detail) and from what I can gather and what marine experts have informed me (including Lisa Chilton the Marine Development Manager at the Wildlife Trust) the Bill is good but could be a lot better. For example there is concern over the following points:

§ There seems to be too much emphasis on economic development (in terms of tourism, commerce etc) as opposed to protecting the environment and marine life.

§ Under the new rules some damaging activities such as dredging may be exempt from licensing. Also oil and gas licensing will continue under The Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform (BERR) rather than the Marine Management Organisation (MMO)

§ It appears that there is not a duty on the Secretary of State to designate Marine Conservation Zones (MCZ) which is appalling. The Marine Bill should enforce the duty to designate MCZ’s not just a power to designate.

Going Forward

A joint Committee of the House of Commons and the House of Lords has been established to scrutinize the draft Bill. As a member of the public you can provide your views and comments on the draft Bill by writing to Defra before 26^th June 2008.

I will be writing my response and I hope that GGG readers will too. In order to gain the full picture I highly recommend that you read the full, draft Marine Bill and accompanying notes which is available to download by clicking here.

After reading the draft Bill please send your comments to:

Marine Bill TeamDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsArea 2C Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR

I will keep you posted about the Marine and Coastal Access Bill including updates about specific important marine sites such as Lyme Bay Reefs.