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If environmental constraints affected just a few areas, maybe this would not be too intrusive, but the three most important conservation regimes affect nearly all the UK coastline in one form or another. More than 75% of the area of all UK estuaries is affected by some kind of European legislation.
The oldest of these designations is the Site of Special Scientific Interest, which has been with us for a long time. Much of the foreshore has now been designated as SSSI, but the designation does not extend below low water. For many years, this designation has been based on the concept of consultation between the landowners and the government’s country conservation agencies - English Nature, Countryside Council for Wales, and Scottish Natural Heritage. But in 2001, an amendment tucked away in the Right to Roam Bill gave the country conservation agencies power to prosecute anyone deliberately damaging an SSSI. Clearly the agencies had failed to win the argument through consultation. Of itself this is not too significant to yachtsmen, but a private members Bill (that became known as the Randall Bill) nearly became law, with help from the government. In its early drafts, this would have effectively moved SSSIs below low water, and could have introduced prosecution powers. Could this have led to new offences such as “knowingly anchoring in a designated area”? Although the Randfall Bill failed, the country conservation agencies and RSPB (who actively assisted in drafting Randall) have stated their determination to bring in new legislation. Something will happen eventually.
By far the fiercest environmental designations are the European Special Protection Areas for Birds (SPA) and the Special Area of Conservation for habitats (SAC). The majority of the major yachting centres in the country are in or near one or more of these. The principal requirement affecting yachting is that certain key authorities are required to collaborate to develop a scheme of management for the area affected by the designation (which extends to an area much larger than the designated site, an example of environmental regulatory creep). The authorities involved include the port authorities, the Environment Agency, the country conservation agencies (EN, CCW, and SNH), local authorities, the Sea Fisheries Committees, and in some circumstances, local drainage boards and Trinity House. These bodies are known as the Relevant Authorities, which begs the question as to who are the irrelevant authorities. By some bureaucratic oversight, the MCA Coastguard are not included, so does that make them irrelevant?
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