Environmental and Planning Law Association of Northern Ireland

December 2025

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EPLANI

Work starts on NI Marine Plan

04.03.2012

Preparation of the Northern Ireland Marine Plan has begun.

With the publication of a Statement of Public Participation (SPP) on 28th June 2012, work has now formally commenced on the Northern Ireland Marine Plan.  A series of workshops are now being held for those interested in contributing to the proposals.

The marine environment is a key asset in terms of biodiversity, recreation, tourism and the transportation of goods and services and supports industries such as aquaculture and fishing and there is significant potential for the growth of marine renewables in the future. Marine planning aims to achieve better management of our marine resources in a sustainable way.

The Marine Policy Statement  (MPS) published in March 2011 provides the high–level policy context within which all marine plans in the UK will be developed, implemented, monitored, amended and/or withdrawn.

At a local level, DOE published the Draft Marine Position Paper  in March 2012 for consultation. This document complements the MPS, and sets out the Executive’s objectives for the sustainable development of our marine area and identifies the policy context within which the Northern Ireland Marine Plan (NIMP) will be developed. During February / March 2012, DOE notified relevant authorities of its intention to commence work on the Northern Ireland Marine Plan. The Marine Plan Team has now published a ‘Statement of Public Participation ( 5835 KB) ‘ (SPP) which sets out clearly how and when the Department will involve and engage people during the preparation of the plan and importantly how the views and comments of stakeholders will be factored into the work.

The Minister has set an ambitious timeline of 2014 for publication of the Marine Plan with the early stages of the Plan process will entail evidence gathering, including meetings with stakeholders representing the full range of sectoral interests to identify the key issues to be addressed in the Marine Plan. For further information the team can be contacted at marineplanteam@doeni.gov.uk or 028 9025 6557.

In response to this news 2 online courses are to provided by the University of Ulster. The courses are primarily aimed at professionals working in the marine resource management or planning field but who, because of rapid change in the emphasis in management of marine resources, now need to develop new skills and knowledge in marine spatial planning and marine tourism. If you have any queries please contact h.ritchie@ulster.ac.uk.