Consultation ends this Friday 27th September
The information below has been copied from the Sussex Wildlife Trust’s News page.
Brighton Marina Dredging Licence
Sarah Ward, Conservation Officer – Marine
Brighton Marina is currently allowed to dump dredged sediment in Beachy Head West Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ) but their licence is now up for renewal – and we don’t think this activity should continue.
The licence was originally granted before the MCZ was designated but now that the area is protected, it’s not appropriate to allow this potentially harmful activity to continue.
The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is currently running a public consultation on the renewal of Brighton Marina’s licence to dredge and dispose of the dredged material, and we’ll be responding to raise our concerns.
Under the current timeframe, the licence will renew in May 2025 and will set the dredging regime for the next 10 years.
Sussex Wildlife Trust disagrees on principle that such an activity should be allowed to take place in a protected area, and we’re also concerned over the precedent this may set for similar cases elsewhere.
Here are some of the key points we’ll be raising:
MCZ Features
MCZs are designated to safeguard vulnerable or unique marine species and habitats of national importance, which here include Blue Mussel beds, Native Oysters, Short-snouted Seahorses, and Littoral Chalk Communities (known as MCZ ‘features’).
Without up-to-date condition assessments for the features of the MCZ, we cannot know whether the MCZ is meeting its targets and thus a precautionary approach to management should be taken. This should include removing potentially harmful activities from taking place.
The applicant’s monitoring report indicates that extent of Blue Mussels across the disposal area has declined and suggests that this is due to their ephemeral nature and/or natural processes – however, no substantive evidence has been provided to prove this. Furthermore, it is well known that Blue Mussels are sensitive to sedimentation and contaminants in the water primarily as they are filter feeders.
Monitoring the ecological impacts
We have serious concerns about how the site is being monitored to assess the impacts of dredge disposal. So far, ecological monitoring has only looked at three selected MCZ features (Blue Mussels, subtidal chalk, subtidal sediment), crucially missing nine other features and the implications on the overall integrity of the Zone.
In our view, the monitoring is inadequate and fails to address the impacts of sediment movement and potential for smothering. Smothering can cause all sorts of issues for marine life, but in this context the main concern is the community of organisms that live on the chalk bedrock – many of these are sessile filter feeders. This means they are unable to move away if the water gets silted up and may struggle to obtain the nutrients they need from the surrounding water. Many reports by the local community and fishing industry have noted increased siltation in the intertidal zone and this has not been addressed.
Alternative sites exist
There are other disposal sites in the nearby area which could be made use of, and the MCZ site is actually considered a “last resort”. Other than financial implications, there are no substantial reasons for the continued use of the MCZ as a disposal site.
Consultation concerns
The applicant has stated, “the disposal site and ongoing activity forms part of the MCZ baseline characteristics” within application documents and as part of their public engagement. However, there is no reference to this activity in any of the designation orders or assessments of the MCZ and, although the dredging activity was licensed in the Zone prior to designation, we feel that the wording here is misleading.
How to get involved:
This is a public consultation so it is open for anyone to make a representation; you don’t need to be a local resident or representing an organisation.
To read further information about the license application please see the Public Notice Portal. You will need to search for case reference: MLA/2024/00394 on the public register to view the application and associated documents.
If you would like to submit a representation, we’ve put together a template to get you started – download the Word document here: Template response Brighton Marina Dredging
Once you’re done, you can either submit your comments via the portal linked above, or you can email them directly to marine.consents@marinemanagement.org.uk. You must reference the case number and provide a correspondence address.
The deadline for submitting a representation is Friday 27th September.
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