oldharry
Well-Known Member
Many people have queried Seajets' claims that moorings will be banned in the near future. Seajet unfortunately did not himself have access to the information he needed to evidence his point, but I can understand his annoyance when people challenged what he was trying to tell us to save a great deal of potential hassle. It is a pity that he only succeeded in upsetting so many in his zeal to get his message across
The facts of the matter as regarrds are as follows:
1. This particular bit of legislation has NOTHING TO DO WITH the MCZ programme, except that it stems from the same Act of Parliament, the Marine Coastal and Access Act 2008. BORG enitrely supports the MCZ programme, and is working to ensure that conservation needs and those of leisure boat users are kept in balance where there is a conflict of interests.
2. Seajet is right to want to alert us to new legislatioin that profoundly affects every one of us who keeps a boat on a mooring. The effect will hardly be felt by those who rent their moorings from a Harbour or River Authority, except for a possible increase in fees, but for those many of us who own our own moorings, including clubs and associations there is a fundamental and potentially serious change in the law.
3. In summary: The MMO has been made the National Authority to control licensing of deposits of any kind on the seabed. ANYTHING placed on the seabed for any reason must be approved by MMO and licensed by them whethere permanent or temporary.
4. Licensing will be a lengthy and costly process. It will require the licensee to supply amongst other things:
a. An environmental impact assesment
b. Habitat Regulation appraisal
c.Evidence of Water Framework Directive compliance
Now this is the bit important to us: I have it at first hand from Neil Wellum, Head of Conservation and Enforcement at MMO that the term 'Seabed deposits' INCLUDES the laying of small boat moorings.
Moorings laid under the auspices of a Harbour or River Authority, or Trinity House will have to have type approval, which will have been agreed by that Authority with MMO. A rented mooring can therefore be expected to comply with regulations. If, like me, you own a Harbour Authority mooring licence, which allows me to lay and maintain my own mooring, the mooring tackle will HAVE to comply with the design and type approved for the Harbour – no more old railway wheels or tyres full of cement! If you are one of the few lucky people who own moorings in uncontrolled stretch of water – and a few still exist, then fundamentally you may well have had it. Existing moorings can remain, but when the time comes for replacement you will have to obtain a licence from the MMO at considerable expense. So you Lancashire types had best get yourselves together to form some sort of recognised Harbour Authority, by the looks of it! Similarly clubs which own mooring sites need to make sure they are up to speed with the new rules. Moorings that have been in existence since before 1985 do not have to comply. But IF they are lifted for repalcement, the replacement DOES.
This is why Seajet is getting so upset – as one involved in moorings in his own club he knows that many are going to lose their moorings, and I fear his impatience has over come any PR sense.
Now, you will all want to see the evidence for yourselves:
The best summary I can find is MMO's Neil Wellum's summary at a meeting with Studlanders I attended earlier this year. He explains the legal and technical position of the Studland Bay moorings, which are laid in an open sea site owned by Crown Estates, who never bothered until now to regulate them in any way: http://www.marinemanagement.org.uk/protecting/conservation/documents/studland/110414_minutes.pdf Pages 1 and 2 refer
The place to go looking for guidance starts here: http://marinemanagement.org.uk/licensing/index.htm but I warn you now its a long and tedious trail!
Although the lists do not as far as I have read specifically mention small boat moorings, the Act – But The Marine Coastal and Access Act schedule 4 most specifically does. I dont have the reference with me - I am away from home just now.
If you read on a little on the minutes of the meeting above you will see the MMO has every intention of enforcing licesning conditions throughout Uks waters. At the end of the day, they will lift and remove any illegal moorings they find.
I hope that clarifies matters a bit.
The facts of the matter as regarrds are as follows:
1. This particular bit of legislation has NOTHING TO DO WITH the MCZ programme, except that it stems from the same Act of Parliament, the Marine Coastal and Access Act 2008. BORG enitrely supports the MCZ programme, and is working to ensure that conservation needs and those of leisure boat users are kept in balance where there is a conflict of interests.
2. Seajet is right to want to alert us to new legislatioin that profoundly affects every one of us who keeps a boat on a mooring. The effect will hardly be felt by those who rent their moorings from a Harbour or River Authority, except for a possible increase in fees, but for those many of us who own our own moorings, including clubs and associations there is a fundamental and potentially serious change in the law.
3. In summary: The MMO has been made the National Authority to control licensing of deposits of any kind on the seabed. ANYTHING placed on the seabed for any reason must be approved by MMO and licensed by them whethere permanent or temporary.
4. Licensing will be a lengthy and costly process. It will require the licensee to supply amongst other things:
a. An environmental impact assesment
b. Habitat Regulation appraisal
c.Evidence of Water Framework Directive compliance
Now this is the bit important to us: I have it at first hand from Neil Wellum, Head of Conservation and Enforcement at MMO that the term 'Seabed deposits' INCLUDES the laying of small boat moorings.
Moorings laid under the auspices of a Harbour or River Authority, or Trinity House will have to have type approval, which will have been agreed by that Authority with MMO. A rented mooring can therefore be expected to comply with regulations. If, like me, you own a Harbour Authority mooring licence, which allows me to lay and maintain my own mooring, the mooring tackle will HAVE to comply with the design and type approved for the Harbour – no more old railway wheels or tyres full of cement! If you are one of the few lucky people who own moorings in uncontrolled stretch of water – and a few still exist, then fundamentally you may well have had it. Existing moorings can remain, but when the time comes for replacement you will have to obtain a licence from the MMO at considerable expense. So you Lancashire types had best get yourselves together to form some sort of recognised Harbour Authority, by the looks of it! Similarly clubs which own mooring sites need to make sure they are up to speed with the new rules. Moorings that have been in existence since before 1985 do not have to comply. But IF they are lifted for repalcement, the replacement DOES.
This is why Seajet is getting so upset – as one involved in moorings in his own club he knows that many are going to lose their moorings, and I fear his impatience has over come any PR sense.
Now, you will all want to see the evidence for yourselves:
The best summary I can find is MMO's Neil Wellum's summary at a meeting with Studlanders I attended earlier this year. He explains the legal and technical position of the Studland Bay moorings, which are laid in an open sea site owned by Crown Estates, who never bothered until now to regulate them in any way: http://www.marinemanagement.org.uk/protecting/conservation/documents/studland/110414_minutes.pdf Pages 1 and 2 refer
The place to go looking for guidance starts here: http://marinemanagement.org.uk/licensing/index.htm but I warn you now its a long and tedious trail!
Although the lists do not as far as I have read specifically mention small boat moorings, the Act – But The Marine Coastal and Access Act schedule 4 most specifically does. I dont have the reference with me - I am away from home just now.
If you read on a little on the minutes of the meeting above you will see the MMO has every intention of enforcing licesning conditions throughout Uks waters. At the end of the day, they will lift and remove any illegal moorings they find.
I hope that clarifies matters a bit.
