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Towards Solent Marine Planning (SoMaP)


The SoMaP project is now complete, the final reports can be downloaded from this page and the resources section.


The aim of the project was to scope the possibility of a Solent marine planning system by starting to build a Solent-wide coastal and marine policy framework including a spatial database of plans, policies and activities by sector. Two strands to the project included: understanding what data is required at this initial stage to strategically assess different sectors plans and policies in the Solent and; to work closely with a range of stakeholders represented in all sectors and governance of the Solent to obtain this information and explore their views towards a Solent scale marine plan. 

The project followed a programme agreed by the Steering Group and included the following 7 packages.

  1. Establish a communications strategy.
  2. Reiterate national progress on Marine Spatial Planning by the Defra implementation team back to stakeholders.
  3. Scope with stakeholders the case for a marine plan at a Solent scale.
  4. Understand the information requirements for a Solent Marine Planning System.
  5. Agree pilot case study sectors, to represent pressing Solent issues and land and marine interactions, and use these to test the data and information.
  6. Obtain and map all sectoral policies (click on 'raw data' to view below keywords box) within the Solent; obtain further data as agreed in work package.
  7. Evaluate project findings and make recommendations to stakeholders.

Download the completed work programme.