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Case Details

The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) received two Marine Licence applications (MLA/2023/00307 and MLA/2023/00308) in July 2023 for two seaweed farms, to be located in Port Quin Bay; outside of Padstow harbour jurisdiction. The licence application requested that works be licensed from September 2023 to August 2073.

The application proposed that the cultivated seaweed will be native to the UK and will be produced to provide food, low-carbon animal feed and fertiliser alternatives and biomaterials to replace single-use plastic and cartons. The applicant has also proposed that the seaweed farm can potentially sequester carbon at a rate six times that of trees. Habitat restoration and increased marine life were also included as benefits in the application.

Technical Assessment

On review, the MMO conducted a technical assessment of the application including an assessment as to whether the works were capable of falling under Schedules A1 or A2 of The Marine Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Amendment) Regulations 2017 for the purposes of Environment Impact Assessment (EIA). The MMO confirmed that the cases did not require EIA under Schedule A1 or A2.

The MMO also carried out a Habitats Regulation Assessment (HRA) under The Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 as the proposed project is situated within the Bristol Channel Approaches Special Area of Conservation (SAC). The site of works are also located 324 meters away from the Padstow Bay and Surrounds Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ) and so an assessment was carried out under Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 (MCAA 2009).

Further assessments were carried out including a Marine Planning Assessment, Water Framework Regulations Assessment, Waste Regulations Assessment, and others as a requisite. The MMO requested further information from the applicant as required at this stage.

Consultation

Following an internal assessment, the case proceeded to consultation under MCAA 2009.

In addition to consulting the public, theMMOalso consulted the following bodies:

• Local MMO Office (south west marine area)
• Natural England
• Environment Agency
• Historic England
• Maritime and Coastguard Agency
• Royal Yachting Association
• Trinity House
• Padstow Harbour Commissioners
• National Federation of Fishermens Organisation
• Cornwall Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority
• Duchy of Cornwall
• Cornwall County Council

The MMO has received a large volume of emails from the public in relation to MLA/2023/00307 and MLA/2023/00308, with the view that the advertisements were not placed within the local vicinity of the works and so they had not been made aware. The applicants advertised their project as requested by the MMO under the MCAA 2009 in one local newspaper on 25 October 2023 (Cornish Post) for one week and placed one advert in Fishing News on 26 October 2023. The applicants also placed a public notice at Padstow Marina notice board on 16 October 2023. At the time, the MMO considered that this complied with our publicise request.

However, after further consideration, taking into account the concerns raised, the MMO has concluded that the public notice was not placed in such a manner to bring the application to the attention of persons likely to be interested in it. This decision was made in line with the MCAA 2009, Section 68 (2). The MMO also notes the comment that the Marine Case Management System (MCMS) was previously showing that there were no public consultations running for this case. This was due to the original public consultation having closed on 22 November 2023.

As such, the MMO requested the applicant to undertake a second round of public consultation for 28 days, which began on 16 February 2024, and ended on the 15 March 2024.

TheMMOreceived a large volume of public representations for this case. The MMO is currently reviewing representations received as part of this further public consultation and previous consultation with various bodies and will take account of them during the determination process. TheMMOdecided that further information is required from the applicant to address matters raised by the consultees. This is in relation to:

• Entanglement of marine mammals
• Impacts on seabird colonies including the puffins on the mouls (the rocky island on the west side)
• Impacts on local fishermen
• Use of the bay as an anchorage
• Damage to the gear
• Visual impact of the buoys on the AONB

This list is not exhaustive and may be subject to change as the case progresses. The MMO advise checking this webpage for case updates rather than contacting the MMO directly. Further updates will be published in due course.