Dredging off the East Coast continues
Despite the many of us who objected to issuing a licence to dredge Area 228, a 2.5 x 2 mile block of sea bed situated between five and seven miles offshore to Hopton in Suffolk, the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) have given their consent to further plunder our offshore sea for sand and gravel.
This did not come as a surprise, as like the scores of previous applications we have objected to, the government body have licensed aggregate dredging for each and every application.
The MMO’s letter to Mike King and I (and which would have been received by all of you who objected) reads:
“In considering the application, in particular the supporting Environmental Statement, the relevant provisions of the MCAA, 2009 and the representations received, a full and detailed assessment has been made of the potential direct and indirect effects of the proposal on human beings, faunafauna The animals characteristic of a region, period, or special environment and flora, soils, water, air climate, the landscape, material assets and the cultural heritage and the interaction between any two or more of these factors.
“The MMO, as the appropriate authority and the regulator, endorse the findings of the Environmental Statement and the relevant Environmental Statement addendums, and subject to the inclusion of the conditions referred to in the marine licence are of the opinion that the marine elements of the project will not have a significant adverse effect on the environment.
“Following this conclusion, the appropriate authority has concluded that the project as a whole will have no significant adverse environmental impact and have therefore given EIA consent to the project, subject to the inclusion of the specified conditions in the marine licence”.
Should you wish to see the full details of the decision they are set out in the EIA consent decision document which can be found on line as
MLA/2013/00417 amid a host of others showing the many companies exploiting our sea bed at:
https://marinelicensing.marinemanagement.org.uk/mmo/fox/live/MMO_PUBLIC_REGISTER/
