Marine Management Organisation
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If you wish to submit a representation or objection in relation to a Harbour Order which is currently in the 42 day public consultation period, please see our guidance
Harbour Orders overview
A harbour is defined by the Harbours Act 1964 (HA 1964) as any natural or artificial harbour, any port, haven, estuary, tidal or other river or inland waterway navigated by sea-going ships. It also includes docks and wharves.
Statutory Harbour Authorities (SHAs) are Statutory Bodies responsible for the management and running of a harbour. The powers and duties in relation to a harbour are set out in local Acts of Parliament or a Harbour Order under the HA 1964.
Harbour Orders are a form of delegated legislation which either amends existing legislation or introduces new harbour legislation. They are made as a statutory instrument under the HA 1964 and confers powers on the SHA for the purpose of improving, maintaining or managing a harbour.
All applications for Harbour Orders were processed by the Department for Transport (DfT) until 2010 when the MMO was established under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 (MCAA). Section 42A of MCAA made provision for certain functions to be delegated by the relevant authority to the MMO.
The Harbours Act 1964 (Delegation of Functions) Order 2010 enabled the MMO to carry out the functions of the DfT Secretary of State in relation to Harbour Orders (including harbours designated as fishery harbours under the Sea Fish Industry Act 1951).
Although the responsibility for processing applications has now been delegated to the MMO, DfT are still the ports policy lead, advising MMO on ports policy and arranging for Harbour Orders to be laid before Parliament.
Harbour Order types
Harbour Orders can be separated into different types.
| Application | Description |
|---|---|
| Harbour empowerment Orders (HEOs) | Are mainly concerned with building new harbours and or creating new harbour authorities responsible for improving, maintaining and managing them. |
| Harbour revision Orders (HROs) | Are used to change the existing legislation governing the management of a harbour or harbours controlled by the same statutory harbour authority (including the provision of new powers and duties). |
| Harbour reorganisation schemes (HRSs) | Are schemes which concern the amendment of the functioning of groups of harbours and can include joining together existing authorities into a new one. Fishery harbours cannot be included in a HRS. |
Harbour Order proposals can be split further into works and non works Orders.
| Application | Description |
|---|---|
| Works Order | This type of Order authorises a project, starting works or other installations or schemes, and other interventions in the natural surroundings and landscape. This type of Order usually requires a marine licence from the MMO under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 (which the Harbour Orders team can also provide advice on). It is your responsibility to ensure that you have all the necessary consents in place prior to undertaking any proposed works, both from the MMO and other authorities. |
| Non Works Order | This type of Order has a purely administrative effect and can be made for one or more of the objects listed in Schedule 2 of The Harbours Act 1964. For example, reconstituting the harbour authority or settling the limits within which the authority are to have jurisdiction or altering such limits as previously settled. |
The application process involved for a works Order and a marine licence falls under different legislation to each other, therefore the role of the MMO is different in each application type.
If the development is deemed to require both a marine licence and a Harbour Order, the MMO expects the applications to be submitted together.
Before you apply
Due to the complexity of the Harbour Orders process, you are strongly advised to contact the MMO Harbour Orders team prior to submitting your application.
The Harbour Orders process may take over 12 months depending on the nature and scale of the proposals. It is therefore important to engage with the MMO as soon as possible. Further information on timescales within the process is included throughout the guidance.
As Harbour Orders are a form of legislation, representatives of the Harbour Authority should obtain appropriate legal advice before applying to the MMO. The Harbour Orders team is not able to provide legal advice as to whether a Harbour Order is required or not. Depending on the nature of your proposals, other consents or assessments under other legislation outside of the Harbour Orders process may be required. The MMO is not able to offer any advice on areas that it does not have responsibility for, it is therefore your own responsibility to make your own enquiries to ensure compliance with relevant legislation. Having a Harbour Order will not absolve you of the requirement to comply with other legislation.
Effective pre-application engagement with any person or groups likely to be affected by your proposed application may assist in reducing objections to proposed Harbour Orders during the formal consultation period.
As such, MMO would encourage you to consider carrying out your own local consultation, particularly if the proposal contains works which may impact on local environments or introduce any major changes to the current functioning of your harbour. You may wish to consult local harbour users, some or all of the bodies and organisations that the MMO will consult with as part of your pre-application work.
Drafting the Harbour Order
To ensure that legislation is accessible, Harbour Orders should be drafted using plain, modern English as much as possible. The provisions in the Order should be understood by those who will be affected by it, this includes consultees and the general public.
Harbour legislation can be complex and care should be taken to ensure that any words or technical terms taken from previous local Acts or Orders that are not in common usage should be explained in your statement in support, which accompanies the application.
Criminal offences
If your Harbour Order seeks to amend a criminal offence which already features in your existing harbour legislation or creates a completely new criminal offence, please ensure that you review the governments position on making new criminal offences. A Justice Impact Test (JIT) must be carried out for the creation and amendment of criminal offences.
Prior to submission, contact the MMO to discuss the requirements for a JIT. You must also ensure that clear justification for your proposal is provided in the statement in support.
Statement in Support
A statement in support is your opportunity to set out the reasons why the application is required, and it must be submitted along with your other application documents.
Your statement in support should be submitted on the relevant MMO template. The templates can be downloaded from the template page.
This document will be used to accompany your application during consultation. It should be written in plain English, any legal and technical terms should also be explained to ensure that they can be fully understood. It is important that you provide enough information to allow those persons engaged in the consultation process to understand the proposals and give informed responses.
If the descriptions are incomplete or lack sufficient detail, it will be difficult for any effective consultation response to be made. If your proposals are not sufficiently clear, or new information comes to light during or after the consultation, it may require the re-opening of the consultation process to enable consultees to comment on that new informatio