Marine Licensing in Marine Conservation Zones: Thomson v Marine Management Organisation’

Abstract

Introduction. The offshore environment has been the focus of significant legal and policy interest over the past decade, as seen in the passing into law of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 (MACAA) and the various regulatory bodies and mechanisms that were created pursuant to it. The instant case provides insight into the interaction between two of these mechanisms: marine licensing and the relationship with marine conservation zones. The case provides a thorough explanation of both the statutory frameworks at issue and the process of decision-making for the grant of a marine licence. An application to the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) to extract aggregate from the Goodwin Sands, an area noted for its unique benthic habitat, richness of species and extensive underwater cultural heritage, located seaward from the eastern coast of Kent, was made by one of the interested parties, the Dover Harbour Board. The grant of a licence to extract seabed aggregate in an area which was proposed as a marine conservation zone – with the absolute certainty that some of what would become the protected features of the marine conservation zone would be compromised – was the principal point of contention. The decision is interesting in that it appears to establish some parameters of what is acceptable such as, for example, the principle that damage to protected features of a marine conservation zone is permissible, and that the question, then, seemingly becomes one of degree.