Summary
There has been widespread interest and engagement with this consultation on the draft Shetland Marine Spatial Plan and there is no doubt that the many comments received have added significant value to the Marine Spatial Planning development process.
The Scottish Sustainable Marine Environment Initiative (SSMEI) in Shetland would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the organisations and individuals who engaged in this consultation exercise.
Introduction
In February 2008 the SSMEI Shetland pilot published a consultation paper on the draft Shetland Marine Spatial Plan. The consultation documents were a Shetland-wide guidance to the placement of different marine developments and activities and the Summary of Responses Report summarises comments received in relation to those documents.
29 written consultation responses were received from a very broad spectrum of individuals and organisations including: academic; local authorities; public bodies; non-governmental organisations; environmental groups; specialist groups representing different marine users; local businesses; community councils; and enterprise (the full list is provided at the end of this report). There was widespread support for Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) and it was generally welcomed that it formed an excellent basis for future work in this area.
Respondents recognise the contribution MSP will make to sustainable development, the quality of public sector decision making, open government and environmental management.
Next steps
Following discussion of the responses by the Local Steering Group, options for amendment will be established. It is anticipated that the final Marine Spatial Plan will be re-printed and implemented from September 2008. Its progress can be followed here so please bookmark this page.
Contact details and how to access full copies of the consultation responses
All responses can be viewed on request from the SSMEI Project Officer. Should you wish further information or additional paper copies of this document please contact:
Dr Lorraine Gray
SSMEI Project Officer
NAFC Marine Centre
Port Arthur
Scalloway
Shetland
ZE1 0UN
Tel. 01595 890222
Email:
Consultation methods and activities
As a first step towards a set of marine plans for the country, this consultation was of great importance to all of Scotland’s marine sectors. The SSMEI Shetland wanted to ensure that we carried out as broad a public consultation as possible. To achieve this, the SSMEI Shetland pilot undertook a wide variety of consultation activities over an extensive period of time beginning in January 2006.
Activities included:
- working in partnership with existing local key stakeholders to
develop marine mapping and thinking on policy issues
- face to face discussions with a variety of organisations such
as: Fisheries Research Services, Government Departments; BP; RSPB; Local
Authorities, Scottish Natural Heritage, Scottish Environment Protection
Agency and Historic Scotland
- research
- discussions with a variety of marine users including fishermen;
recreational users; and community councils
- seminars
You can download the Summary of Responses Report here (208Kb)
Previous SSMEI documents: