SCOTTISH COASTAL FORUM (SCF) PLENARY MEETING 27:
7 NOVEMBER 2005 , HIGHLAND COUNCIL BUILDINGS , INVERNESS
Present
Neil Black VisitScotland
Mike Comerford MCA
Jools Cox RSK ERA
Anton Edwards SEPA
Rhona Fairgrieve Crown Estate
Robert Gatliff British Geological Survey
Fiona Gowland Scottish Fisherman's Federation
Vanesa Hillhead Moray Firth Partnership
Jenny Hogan Scottish Renewables
Alayna Imlah Scottish Executive
Richard Luxmoore National Trust
Gordon Mann Local Coastal Partnerships
Angus McHattie Highland Council
Doug McLeod ASSG
Derek McGlashan Coastnet
Stephen Midgely SCF Project Officer (PO)
Captain Jim Simpson SCF Chair
Mary Ann Smyth RSK ERA
Cathy Tilbrook SNH
Fiona Watt Scottish Executive
Mark Williams Scottish Water
Colin Wishart CoSLA
1. Opening remarks from Chairman
Captain Simpson thanked Colin Wishart for arranging the hospitality and facilities for the meeting at the Highland Council Buildings. He also welcomed Mary Ann Smyth and Jools Cox of RSK ERA, and Fiona Gowland from the Scottish Fishermen's Federation.
2. Apologies for absence
Apologies for absence were received from Bill Taylor (Highlands and Islands Enterprise), Kara Brydson (RSPB), Steve Cummings (Sport Scotland) and Ken Reilly (British Ports Association).
3. Minutes of previous meeting - 9 June, Dumfries ( Paper SCF/27/1)
The minutes of the last meeting have now been circulated, and were approved with no amendments.
4. Work programme update
a) Review of SCF Strategy: Rhona Fairgrieve
The Strategy Review Working Group (SRWG) comprising of Mark Williams, Colin Wishart, Stephen Midgely and Rhona Fairgrieve have been meeting to consider the 145 responses received by the Scottish Executive (SE) on the SCF Strategy document. The remit of the SRWG was to highlight factual inaccuracies, to identify areas which warranted additional information or consideration, and to give advice to Plenary group (PG) with recommendations for future options.
An assessment of comments was made, with the responses being split into comments on the document, and comments on the issues covered, with the SRWG assessing the more general comments. It was recognised that there were limitations to some of the comments made, some of which were not in any particular depth, with other comments expressing fundamental disagreement, which was noted. The SRWG recommended that responses on topics such as aquaculture, safety at sea, etc, be addressed by seeking specialist assistance on these subjects..
The Group categorised each of the comments as follows:
- A: noted and no change
- B: important point made, and strategy changed
- C: change required by a third party
Three options were identified for this exercise:
1: Do nothing - which is a cheap and easy option, just drawing a line under existing Strategy and moving on - but possibly giving the wrong message to Consultation Exercise participants.
2: Fully revise the Strategy - which would have impacts on resources, human and financial, and would be very time consuming.
3: Do a time-limited update, where the SCF could draft in additional help to redraft specific sections, republishing the Strategy on the SCF website in e-format only, this task being completed by 31st March 2006.
It was agreed that the SCF should take on the third option, and revise the strategy, taking on board all comments. The SEA should be even greater prominence, and given a new section.. Spatial planning issues should also be considered, along with WFD implications and SSME initiatives. The SCF need to identify these sections which require amendment or inclusion now - this may not be achievable by 31 March, but the strategy could be published in separate sections.
ACTION: Rhona Fairgrieve to continue to take the lead in the SRWG, to enlist help as necessary from SCF members, and to publish revised strategy by 31/3/06.
b) Scottish Marine Observatory (SMO): PO
SAMS and SCF are to further develop work on the SMO, at a cost of £180k, on the recommendation of the SE. It is intended that SMO information will be ready and available when Ministers require it, as managing the marine coast will be very difficult without this data. It was questioned as to when this had become an SCF project, as some members thought it was purely a SAMS initiative. Concern was expressed that the SCF should not lead on this, and also that the project should not be purely science based. However, it was realised that without funding, it may not happen. PO informed the meeting that current SMO group is small, and a Ministerial Working Group will be set up shortly to further discuss this matter. It was asked whether SAMS could be used to raise the SMO profile.
ACTION: PO to commend document to the Marine Working Group (MWG) when required.
c) State of the Coast Report (SOTCR)
The first draft of the SOTCR, completed by Helen Atkins, and presented to the PG in June 2005 is currently on the website. The finalising of the SOTCR needs to be incorporated into the SCF work programme, and it was suggested that another student be employed for the finalising task, requiring 3 months work. It is recognised that this document will be useful if the SE has to submit to the European Commission in 2006.
Alayna Imlah recently attended a British block meeting on the EU ICZM strategy and stated that DEFRA are planning to draft a framework within which each UK administration would 'slot' their ICZM / coastal strategies. The plan at present is for the SE to submit "Seas The Opportunity: A strategy for Scotland's Coasts and Seas" however, any new work on ICZM completed before then could also be submitted.
It was agreed to keep the SOTCR current, but for it to be reviewed at intervals. It needs to be finalised to be fit for purpose - however, it was suggested that if the SCF had a Ministerial mandate on this work, more time and resources could be spent on it.
ACTION: PO to raise SOTCR to the Ministerial Working Group.
d) ICZM Working Group (ICZMWG)
A formal paper not yet been issued from the ICZMWG, as PO does not want to circulate the draft, but would rather issue a final report. It was suggested that the final report be postponed until the next PG meeting in January, to feed into the Ministerial committee response to Europe on ICZM strategy.
A sub-group has been set up to explore the links between the SCF and the local coastal partnerships (LCP)s, to identify the most appropriate structure for delivering ICZM and the necessary action needed to expand initiatives. It was also suggested that the sub-group look at Scottish Inshore Fisheries Advisory Group (SIFAG), to identify boundaries to ensure synergy with the ICZM framework. Other initiatives will have to be identified, to look at the range of issues which are currently being covered, and how gaps in the national structure might be filled. It was agreed that this work should be completed by the end of January 2006, and Jim Simpson thanked the WG for their efforts.
ACTION: PO to circulate final draft of ICZM Working Group Report by 17 January 2006.
ACTION: ICZM WG to complete all tasks set by 31 January 2006.
6. Review of and forward planning for the SCFa) Presentation of report from RSK-ERA: Dr Mary-Ann Smyth: RSK ERA
RSK ERA have produced a report on the Review of the SCF, its values, remit and organisational structure. The company was commissioned to do this review because Scottish marine and coastal policy has been developing rapidly, and the SCF need to adapt to address this. The review was carried out by a combination of interviews, questionnaires and workshops, and ran from August- November 2005.
It was noted that the Forum was effective in the following ways: being a broad forum, circulating information, getting responses to government consultations, linking coastal foray officers, and addressing issues of concern to members. However, there were concerns that the Forum is not good (but getting better) at acting as the focus for local coastal fora, the SCF could do this by increasing circulation lists, issuing theme newsletters and holding conferences, and having themed meetings with policy team members so that they understand local issues.
Some members of the forum felt that the SCF strategy had not been used by government and even sidelined by the SE's Marine and coastal strategy : 'Seas the opportunity'. However, the SE Marine and Coastal strategy states that it has taken the SCF strategy into account, and the SCF has been invited to join the new ministerial Advisory group on the Marine and Coastal Strategy (AGMACS). The consultants suggested that the SCF should now work to the timetable of AGMACS, be aware of the politics and future plans of ministers, and provide AGMACS with advice and research as necessary. The SCF has two roles - advising and representing. RSK ERA advised that the Forum should concentrate on representing for the next year, unless asked otherwise. The SCF should also be pro-active in making comments if AGMACS, or the Executive, appear to be misguided , concentrating on coastal issues for the time being.
Finally, it should be borne in mind that Scotland will need to report back to Europe on the EU ICZM recommendation early in 2006 (as mentioned above). Consultants felt that it was good that the SCF is internationally recognized, with an established reputation for ICZM, pointed out that the SCF may need to reshape itself to fit Scotland's new strategies, while remaining flexible.
Full details of the presentation can be obtained from Fiona Watt, SCF Secretariat.
b) Discussion on future options for the SCF.
It was suggested that the SCF should be more proactive, and put forward papers for discussion rather than waiting for a steer from AGMACS. The current SCF could be in very strong position to advise the Minister, but we need to be clear to what advice is needed. As Jim Simpson is attending this group he will be in a position to steer the outcomes of the group, and offer to undertake work that is in line with the expertise of the SCF.
Concern was raised that the Forum is being sidelined by AGMACS. The SCF position would be strengthened by connections to the local fora, which will give the SCF a more holistic approach, focusing on the SCF being the link between 'the local' and 'the national'.
There was also a short discussion on the problem with division of maritime/coastal issues - the SCF should cover fisheries and inshore waters out to 12 nautical miles. It was acknowledged that the SCF is spread thinly over many groups, and it would be better to link through SIFAG to reduce duplication of effort.
Membership was discussed, as the Review report says that the SCF membership should be reviewed every year at all levels - should a list be compiled of the people being missed out? The SCF could potentially be a huge forum geographically, and that while the views of the LAs need to be co-ordinated, this is unfeasible due to numbers. It was suggested that it might be helpful to have a section in the final report on who the current members are, and what the gaps are. It was agreed that the SCF needs to have defensible criteria to rationalise attendance - and while small groups have limited value, and we need to keep a manageable size with maximum impact. It was suggested that the SCF ask the groups how they want to be represented. While we would wish to encourage the participation of LCPs, it must be realised that POs don't often feel comfortable about representing the view of their organisations. In the past, the SCF tried to pull together comments by all POs but this hasn't worked, and a meeting was suggested some time ago but arranging this has proved unfeasible.
Jim Simpson thanked Mary-Ann Smyth for the Review, stated that that the SG would take on board the recommendations in the draft, and we look forward to receiving the final report.
ACTION: PO to co-ordinate final comments for Mary -Ann Smyth by 21 Nov 2005.
ACTION: Mary-Ann Smyth to correct factual errors and supply final report by end of November 2005.
6. Ministerial Advisory Group (AGMACS)The first AGMACS meeting takes place on 14 November, and it is expected that AGMACS will only last for one year. AGMACS has a wide membership including representatives from industry, NGO's, COSLA, MCA, and the SCF. Secretariat will be provided by the marine branch of the SE and all papers and minutes of AGMACS meetings will be available on the SE marine branch website.
Alayna Imlah outlined the remit of AGMACS, and stated that the group will develop the marine and coastal strategy further, looking in particular at:
- Setting performance indicators and identifying science and research needs
- Undertaking an assessment of impacts and conlficts, and conflict resolution mechanisms
- Reviewing objectives for the marine and coastal environment
- Inputting to the assessment of options for a coastal and marine national park
- Developing the concept of marine spatial planning
- Considering what legislative change might be needed for Scotland.
The initial papers on the subjects above made available to the forum are introductory scene setting papers which expert members of AGMACS would develop further and report back to the group at a later meeting. The Minister had envisioned that the SCF would be the prime candidate to take forward the conflicts and conflict resolution work programme.
It was suggested that the title of the 'conflicts and conflict resolution' paper was misleading, as ICZM is much more than just conflict resolution, and a more positive message should be reflected. Several members of the SCF have already been asked to provide briefing for this group, and expressed concern that no new resources are being provided for any work the SCF undertakes for the new group. However, the work of AGMACS should be complimentary to the work of the forum and it is not anticipated that any significant new areas of work would be identified.
It was acknowledged that regardless of funding issues the SCF would be in a better position to influence policy if they played an active role in AGMACS. It was agreed that the SCF produce a one page summary for AGMACS about the SCF and what it does best, while AGMACS are setting their work programme and agenda for the coming year, using the TOR from 1996, and the points in RSK ERA's presentation as the basis for this. Further details can be found at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Environment/Water/16440/AGMACS
ACTION: Alayna Imlah to speak to AGMACS members and see which work stream would be taken forward by whom, and feed this back to the forum at the next plenary.
ACTION: All: Suggestions for a one page paper, to PO by next 18 November 2005.
ACTION: PO to pass one page paper to Jim Simpson for AGMACS meeting.
7. LCP Paper presentation: SCF 27/5: Gordon MannGordon Mann has invited other POs to chip in with their projects for this paper, and met with other POs to try and better the understanding of the partnerships and their relationship with the SCF, but the response has not been good. An update was received from Clyde Forum on SSMEI, outlining how it is to be carried out, with new staff, being hosted by SNH and paid for by SEPA. Information has also been received from the Clyde Forum on a socio - economic study on marine protected areas. Solway Firth Partnership responded with a study on the exploitation of Tope fishing, which addresses the issue that commercial fishing may damaged by legislation . Solway also raised the continuing issue of the closed cockle fishery, an ongoing problem.
The SCF expressed disappointment in the lack of input by POs, and agreed that lack of resources and lack of appreciation of the SCF's importance is a problem. The LCPs often feel the SCF does not deliver anything of value to them. The two way benefit has to be made clear and it was suggested that this issue be taken up with AGMACS - that the local fora are floundering through lack of resources. It is easier to get money for projects and therefore projects are carried out at the expense of strategic work. It was suggested that a margin of the projects fund should be diverted to the other work of the LCPs, and that there may be a role for SCF PO to be a co-ordinator on this. The process of LCP involvement will be started in quarterly meetings, timed for before PG. Main themes would be suggested, and then reports on shared themes would be made to PG.
8. Atlantic Coast Project, Wester Ross - Angus McHattie (Highland Council)A presentation was made by Angus MacHattie of The Highland Council on the Atlantic Coast Project. This research and development project led by the Highland Council, will address the design and implementation of integrated coastal zone plans at local level. It is part of Interreg 3B project 'Coastatlantic' and is funded mainly by ERDF. Domestic funding also comes from TCE, SNH, RACE and The Highland Council. The project runs from December 2004 to August 2006.The main tasks of the project are the preparation and testing of an integrated plan for a sample inshore marine area, and a trial implementation and monitoring a comparative study of coastal plans in Norway. A report on the project will be produced about the lessons learned, and identifying ways forward. An inter-agency steering group will be set up comprising of the funding partners, SEERAD and SEPA Project Officers, with supervision and technical backup from The Highland Council. The involvement of local stakeholders is important in this project, with the Community Liaison Group budget set at £160k over the 3 years.It is hoped that the project's findings will fill a geographic gap in the Highland Council's plan coverage, and will reduce the level of conflict surrounding the development of aquaculture in this area. It will also identify opportunities for sustainable development, and test the potential of an integrated, multi-sectoral approach to coastal management. This model for coastal planning in Highland will also be transferable to other areas of Scotland.Full details of the presentation can be obtained from Fiona Watt, SCF Secretariat.
9. Developments in ICZM across the Moray - Mike Commerford (MCA)
Mike Commerford gave a presentation on Developments in ICZM across the Moray Firth. This large area of water is bounded on all sides by a wide variety of industries, businesses and stakeholders, and the Moray Firth Partnership is trying to promote the concept that the water links these groups to each other. Funding for this project is currently a concern, and the MFP have addressed this by using a cut from strategic work funding, but would prefer to have core funding for this. The SCF can help LCPs by encouraging funding support at national level, and by the linking of national and local strategies.
Full details of the presentation can be obtained from Fiona Watt, SCF Secretariat.
10. AOB and round table updates
BGS: Robert Gatliff
BGS have been collecting data from around Ullapool on a 5 year core programme, to inform marine spatial planning in this area. They have also been conducting a mesh project on type habitats and islands in Scotland, in addition to a national mapping project. One project of particular interest is a proposed Portobello landmark building which may take the form of a pier. This would have the benefit of re-establishing Edinburgh's link to the Forth, with the next step being a proposed submarine environment building in this area..
ACTION: Robert Gatliff to provide the address for SCF to take part in consultation on the Portobello proposals.
SNH: Cathy Tilbrook
SNH has been asked to provide advice to Scottish Ministers on creating a coastal & marine National Park. SNH is currently carrying out an assessment process to identify the most suitable location/s, as well as considering issues of governance and powers which would be required for such a park. More detailed feedback will be provided at the next SCF Plenary meeting, by when the proposals will be much advanced. The SNH website ( www.snh.org.uk) has full information on this work, with all related papers, and a message board, for suggestions and ideas. Comments, feedback and proposals are very welcome, ideally bythe end of December2005.. SNH has not been asked to consult formally on its advice, as Ministers will carry out a full public consultation next year. Jim Simpson will represent the SCF on the SNH stakeholder group, which will comment on the SNH proposals, and these will also be considered by the Ministerial Committee in February. SNH have 2 forthcoming seminars on the proposals, on 30 November 2005 in Inverness and 8 December 2005 in Glasgow, and all interested parties are encouraged to attend.
Scottish Renewables - Jenny Hogan: Development Officer (Marine & Bioenergy)
Jenny Hogan gave the group an update on the Marine Energy Network (MEN). The MEN core group have quarterly meetings, and an open invitation was issued to the SCF to attend the next meeting on 18 January in Glasgow. There is also a Marine Energy Network seminar on 8 December in Edinburgh, and all interested parties are encouraged to attend.
ACTION: All: Those interested in the above events should submit their names to Jenny Hogan directly - tel. 0141 222 7920 jenny@scottishrenewables.com .
11. Date of next meeting
· 27th Plenary meeting - Monday 30 January 2006 Dundee..(NB change from Tuesday 31st).
- 28th Plenary meeting - Tuesday 6 June 2006 - Western Isles (proposed).