Contact: Alan Inder, ext 6759 email: [email protected]

1. Introduction

1.1 Concern has been expressed by some stakeholder organisations that work on a Moorings Plan for the whole river appears to have been shelved in favour of producing plans for individual parts of the river, starting with Warsash. They consider that plans for individual areas should only be produced once a strategic plan has been agreed. The counter argument is that it would take a long time and be very costly to produce a strategic plan. In the meantime, initiatives for improvements cannot be stifled. The suggested way forward is to refine the strategic objectives set out in the draft Moorings Plan, in the light of the consultation exercise and work on the Warsash Plan, and that a discussion paper be produced early in 2004 that puts forward strategic principles for guiding development on the waterway within the established statutory planning framework. The principles would be developed through a stakeholders' workshop to be held in January 2004.

2. Background

2.1 In autumn 2002, the County Council and the Crown Estate published for public consultation `Towards a River Hamble Moorings Plan'. More than 300 written representations were received, and the outcome of the consultation was reported to the Harbour Management Committee on 13 December 2002. The response of the County Council and the Crown Estate to the consultation was reported to the Executive Member's Group on 14 May 2003 and then to the Harbour Management Committee on 27 June 2003. At that meeting the Committee endorsed the suggested way forward, the main focus of which was the development of coordinated proposals for improvements in the Warsash part of the river, through a working group.

2.2 The Warsash Improvements Plan Working Group met for the first time on 14 July. At that meeting several representatives strongly expressed the view that a strategic moorings plan should be developed and agreed before plans for individual areas such as Warsash were developed.

Although the Working Group Chairman gave reasons for the approach being adopted, he agreed that the issue be referred to the Executive Member's Group for guidance. This report summarises the issue and suggests a way forward.

3. Moorings Plan

3.1 The consultation leaflet `Towards a River Hamble Moorings Plan' set out the problems associated with the existing moorings layout, and proposed a way of rationalising and reorganising the moorings on the river in order to achieve benefits for navigational safety, recreation and the environment. The leaflet explained that the Plan was based on the principles of sustainable development - balancing environmental, social and economic prosperity - and set out five objectives. The draft Plan attracted a great deal of comment, partly because it was seen to be far more radical and comprehensive than was intended, and partly because of the differences of opinion about problems and solutions.

3.2 The consultation exercise proved just how controversial is the subject of moorings provision on the River Hamble. It is the view of the County Council and the Harbour Authority that any attempt to produce a comprehensive moorings plan for the river, with the necessary extent and depth of consultation with all the various interested parties, will be drawn out and very expensive, and there is a significant risk of failure. Over such a long period of plan preparation, the legislative and wider policy context might also change significantly, for example, because of the growing impact of the Water Framework Directive. It may also be said that any comprehensive moorings plan which is able to command wide support among extremely varied and often competing interests would turn out so bland as to be virtually meaningless. Clearly, initiatives for change cannot and should not be stifled during the period of years that a strategic plan would take to produce. Hence the shift in emphasis towards parts of the river where main stakeholders have plans for improvement and change, and where there is a good chance of coordinating those plans and carrying out better public consultation to achieve wider benefits.

3.3 Nevertheless, this does not mean that work at the strategic river-wide scale ought to, or will, be abandoned. Information on such matters as navigational safety; access, traffic and parking; hydrology; and nature conservation will continue to be improved on a river-wide basis. This will help to move towards a long-term strategic plan, but it will take time.

3.4 Furthermore, there will be the opportunity to examine further the five strategic objectives set out in the draft Moorings Plan and how they might be implemented, not only in the light of all the comments made on the Plan but also to test how they might be pursued at local level through more detailed work, such as that recently started at Warsash. It is an iterative process: objectives are tested at local level, then refined as necessary, then tested again in improved form, and so on.

4. Strategic Principles

4.1 To assist this process, and to reassure those who strongly believe in having an established strategic planning framework, it might be appropriate to produce a discussion document on strategic principles for guiding development on the river, in particular new or relocated moorings. The area covered would be the whole of the tidal river, having regard to the land above high water mark. The statutory planning policies would provide the basic framework, but the paper would go into more depth and detail for the development and use of the waterway. The discussion paper could be drafted by County Council staff, with help from the Crown Estate and its agents, for wide consultation early in March 2004. Due to the need to involve from an early stage the wide range of interests on the river, in order to gain ownership of the Strategic Principles, it is proposed that a stakeholders' workshop be held in January 2004 to discuss relevant issues and assist in developing the principles.

Recommendation

That a discussion paper `Strategic Principles for Guiding Development on the River' be prepared for public consultation early in March 2004, following a stakeholders' workshop.

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