Socio-economic study for Marine Planning Published - 13/9/11
The MMO has released its first commissioned study of socio-economic factors in marine planning. Marine planning aims to ensure a sustainable future for our coastal and offshore waters through integrating the many activities, resources and assets in our marine area.
The study, conducted independently, is a new resource that helps marine planners, developers, local authorities and others with an interest in sustainable development in the marine area to understand various issues affecting coastal communities. It takes a national snapshot of the socio-economic factors currently driving coastal communities in England, from planned developments to tourism, and then looks in more detail at the East of England, the area where the first two marine plans are currently being developed.
The information used to produce the study comes from a variety of sources, including local planning documentation and figures verified by the Office for National Statistics. See http://www.marinemanagement.org.uk/marineplanning/se.htm.
Posted 13/09/2011 11:30
River Hamble Maintenance Dredge Plan - 6/9/11
ABP Marine Environmental Research Ltd has prepared a Maintenance Dredge Plan on behalf of the River Hamble Harbour Authority (RHHA), in association with marina and boatyard owners on the river.
The aim of the Plan was to collate information to assist both operators and regulators seeking, or giving approval, for maintenance dredging activities close to European designated sites.
The Plan also provides a Water Framework Directive compliance assessment in accordance with the Environment Agency’s ‘Clearing the Waters’ guidance, to ensure that ongoing maintenance dredging activities within the Hamble are not having a detrimental impact on waterbody ecological objectives.
Posted 12/09/2011 13:15
Diving into the Mesolithic Past of the Solent - 5/9/11
The Hampshire and Wight Trust for Maritime Archaeology is pleased to announce the first major publication of its internationally important excavations and research of the submerged pre‐historic site of Bouldnor Cliff in the Solent. Published by the Council for British Archaeology, with support from English Heritage, the 200 page report details the ground‐breaking methods and fascinating results drawn from this 8,000 year old site. Bouldnor Cliff is 11 metres below the surface and approximately 250 metres offshore of Bouldnor, near Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight and lies within the Solent Maritime Special Area of Conservation.
Posted 07/09/2011 09:40
Daedalus Selected as an Enterprize Zone - 18/8/11
Daedalus Airfield has been selected as an Enterprise Zone, 'The Solent Enterprize Zone'. This work is being led by the Solent local enterprise partnership and proposes:
- Size: one site covering 82 hectares;
- Sector Focus: R&D, including automotive, aerospace, transport, defence and manufacturing;
- Tax breaks: Save business £2.7 million in forgone business rates;
- Job creation: Local Enterprise Partnership estimates 38 - 45 businesses and 650 jobs by April 2015;
- Planning: is a master planned site and the current planning applications are intended to provide outline planning consents for development over the long term;
- Broadband: Discussions are ongoing about best broadband provision;
- Investment: UKTI have expressed their willingness to support international marketing effort.
Local Enterprise Partnership have also bid for regional growth funding.
To encourage investment and exports as a route to a more balanced economy, the Government announced at Budget 2011 that it would establish 21 new Enterprise Zones with superfast broadband, lower taxes, and low levels of regulation and planning controls.
Posted 27/08/2011 11:03
EMU Limited awarded major MCA contract - 10/8/11
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) has awarded marine survey specialists EMU Limited (EMU) a multi-million pound hydrographic contract as part of its programme to systematically survey the waters around the UK.
The EMU contract will cover the Shallow Water Lot of the MCA’s Civil Hydrography Programme, which aims to gather accurate hydrographic information for updating United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO) nautical charts and publications.
The work will focus on eight main coastal offshore regions around the UK. These areas cover from Barra Island in Scotland and Carmarthen Bay in Wales to Belfast Lough in Northern Ireland and Poole Bay in England.
Posted 15/08/2011 15:50
Sea City topping out ceremony - 4/8/11
The construction of Southampton’s international visitor attraction, Sea City, has reached a key construction milestone with the final stages of the new special exhibitions pavilion nearing completion. To mark this significant stage in the project, Southampton City Council and contractor Kier Southern held a topping out ceremony on August 3 which celebrated reaching the highest point of the build - the tip of the pavilion.
During the ceremony the first metal coping will be placed on the pavilion roof by Southampton’s Mayor, Councillor Terry Matthews, Kier Southern and the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).
Sea City, which has been supported by a grant of £4.9million from the HLF, is planned to open to the public in April 2012, 100 years after the Titanic tragedy.
Posted 15/08/2011 15:45
Clipper round-the-world yachts gets under way - 31/7/11
Thousands of people have turned out to watch 10 yachts leave Southampton to begin the 40,000-mile (64,500km) Clipper round-the-world race. More than 500 amateur sailors from 40 countries will take turns to sail the yachts, making it the world's longest yacht race.
HMS Illustrious accompanied the fleet to the start of the race off the Isle of Wight at 16:30 BST. The first leg will involve crews sailing from Europe to Brazil. Crowds of people lined the marina at Southampton's Ocean Village to watch the yachts head out to the start, off the Royal Yacht Squadron Line in Cowes.
The fleet of 10 identical 68ft (20m) ocean racing yachts and 10 skippers are supplied by organisers of the race, which takes place every two years. Each yacht is sponsored by a city, region or country.
Posted 02/08/2011 11:44
New Coastal Communities Fund - 22/7/11
Coastal communities across the United Kingdom will receive a multi-million pound boost each year from a new Coastal Communities Fund, the Chancellor and Chief Secretary to the Treasury, announced. This new fund will be financed by the Government through the allocation of funding equivalent to 50 per cent of the revenues from the Crown Estate’s marine activities.
It is designed to support the economic development of coastal communities and will support a wide range of projects, including those that support charities, the environment, education and health. Examples could include support for developing renewable energy, improving skills or environmental safeguarding or improvement.
The fund will be linked to the revenues that are raised by the Crown Estate’s marine activities each year. For example, in April 2012 there will be £23.7 million available in the Coastal Communities Fund, this is based on a 50 per cent share of the £47.4 million revenue raised by the Crown Estate’s marine activities in 2010-11. For each country of the UK, the funds available will be directly linked to the revenues raised by the Crown Estate’s marine activities from that area, with separate funding for England, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Highlands and Islands and the rest of Scotland.
Posted 26/07/2011 11:50
New UK Maritime Operations Centre created in Hampshire - 15/7/11
A new Maritime Operations Centre for the UK will be based in Hampshire under plans announced by Transport Secretary Philip Hammond. Initial plans to reduce the number of centres from 18 to eight have been scaled back. Mr Hammond told the House of Commons 10 24-hour centres would remain.
The current Solent Coastguard station at Lee on Solent will be replaced by a new larger centre covering the Southampton and Portsmouth area. It will operate 24 hours a day all through the year and will oversee eight sub-centres at Falmouth, Holyhead, Milford Haven, Belfast, Aberdeen, Humber, Stornaway and Shetland.
Posted 15/07/2011 10:52
Coastguard bases keep search-and-rescue helicopters - 12/7/11
Plans to keep search-and-rescue helicopter services at four key centres have been announced by the government. The existing Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) contract is set to expire at bases in Shetland, the Isle of Lewis, Dorset and Hampshire. Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said the government would run a competition to procure an interim service at the bases for up to five years. The contract would be similar to those already in place, Mr Hammond said.
The government had wanted to cut the number of 24-hour coastguard centres from 18 to three but has since acknowledged its plans will be amended.
Posted 13/07/2011 16:30
HMS Victory's restoration starts - 12/7/11
A large crane has begun removing the masts of HMS Victory in Portsmouth as major restoration of Admiral Lord Nelson's flagship gets under way. The project was described as the ship's "most extensive restoration" since the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar, during which Lord Nelson was killed onboard Victory.
The ship's three masts, bowsprit and rigging will all be dismantled. It will be the first time since World War II that Victory has been seen without its top masts.
Recent survey work revealed the ship was leaking, suffering from rot and was being pulled apart by its own weight. Earlier, engineers began by removing the fore topgallant yard and fore topsail yards - the spars on the mast.
In the coming weeks, 26 miles of rigging will be removed so a team of master shipwrights and other specialists can work on them. The project will take 10 years and is being funded by the Royal Navy, which said it was the biggest rebuild carried out on the ship since it was repaired after the Battle of Trafalgar and the subsequent storm in 1805.
Posted 13/07/2011 15:39
Gosport's new ferry pontoon arrives - 22/6/11
After unseasonal British weather disrupted the arrival of Gosport's super new Ferry Pontoon from Holland last week, and subsequently its installation last weekend, the new pontoon finally made its way into Portsmouth Harbour on Wednesday 22nd June.
Now, 'subject to weather' the work due to take place last weekend will begin in earnest this coming Friday (24 June), when at 7pm the old pontoon will be closed and passengers will transfer to the temporary berthing facilities made available by Endeavour Quay. To board the ferry, passengers will make their way through the temporary gateway in the fence which separates the Falkland Gardens from Endeavour Quay (to the left of the existing pontoon).
Posted 24/06/2011 11:53
World's oceans in 'shocking' decline - 20/6/11
The oceans are in a worse state than previously suspected, according to an expert panel of scientists. In a new report, they warn that ocean life is "at high risk of entering a phase of extinction of marine species unprecedented in human history".
They conclude that issues such as over-fishing, pollution and climate change are acting together in ways that have not previously been recognised. The impacts, they say, are already affecting humanity.
The panel was convened by the International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO), and brought together experts from different disciplines, including coral reef ecologists, toxicologists, and fisheries scientists.
Its report will be formally released later this week.
Posted 21/06/2011 11:15
MMO Launches Marine Planning Portal - 6/6/11
An interactive map of our seas, which will be a key tool for marine planning, has been launched by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO).
The Marine Planning Portal allows anyone logging on to view a range of information and locations – from details of wind farm developments to conservation areas – and understand how busy our seas have become.
Plan-making is already underway in the East Offshore and East Inshore marine plan areas - from Flamborough Head to Felixstowe – with a total of 10 marine plans to be drawn up for England over a decade to inform and guide marine regulators and users.
The map offers an easy way to be involved and contribute to marine planning. Using the controls, you can locate and then zoom in on particular areas or activities by selecting the specific data you want to see. You can also post comments and make suggestions on new data or information to inform the plans in the East of England, which are expected to take two years to finalise.
Posted 06/06/2011 20:21
