Wastes 3

Typically a boatyard or marina needing a maintenance dredge will require a consent from the Harbour Authority (mainly related to navigational safety, and therefore usually straightforward); and a consent from DEFRA under the Food and Environment Protection Act (FEPA). These bodies (especially DEFRA) will almost certainly seek the advice of the Country Conservation Agency with respect to conservation issues. In England this will be English Nature, in Wales Countryside Council for Wales, and in Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage. They will also consult the Environment Agency (SEPA in Scotland) with respect to water quality issues. The EA may also need to issue disposal licences if the dredgings are being placed ashore. Any of these bodies may call for an “appropriate” assessment if the site is in or near a European Marine Sites such as a Special Protection Area for birds, or a Special Area of Conservation, as is usual for most of the key yachting areas.

There is one well-documented case where obtaining the consents to dredge a marina, which had been dredged every 6 or 7 years for a couple of decades, took eighteen months. The cost of obtaining the consents exceeded the cost of the dredge, which took three weeks to complete. Even though they had been consulted throughout, the EA only called for a waste disposal licence a few days before work was due to start in the middle of winter. When asked how long such a licence would take to obtain they replied “Oh! It shouldn’t take long. Maybe 3 or 4 months”. Of course this would have put the works back to the Spring which was not practical, and could have delayed the dredge by a year. It took some hard talking to get things sorted out.

Examples exist of the EA or English Nature requiring works to be carried out in the summer to avoid disturbance of over wintering birds. There is a near total lack of practical understanding of what the boating industry is all about. It is these frustrations that add massively to the costs.