Written Statement: Response to the findings from the Independent Review of Marine Planning Approaches for Wales

Our coasts and seas are an integral part of our history, economy and way of life. They support an abundance of diverse species, habitats and ecosystems, contribute millions to our economy and play an important role in the health and wellbeing of our communities. 

We published our first Welsh National Marine Plan in 2019, to help us manage and protect this important resource. In January, I updated the Senedd on the introduction of our first Strategic Resource Areas (SRAs) as part of our approach to Marine Plan implementation, helping us understand opportunities for sustainable development and how these relate to the most environmentally sensitive areas which we must protect. 

Identifying SRAs is one part of our approach to marine planning. I am clear that the planning process has a key role to play as we move forward to address the challenges of managing our seas, including acting on the climate and nature emergencies. Following a recommendation from the Climate Change, Environment and Infrastructure (CCEI) Committee of the Senedd, I therefore asked my officials to commission an independent review of marine planning approaches for Wales. The independent review explored good practice in other strategic planning processes, to identify how we might best develop marine planning as we respond to the increasing demands on our marine area.

Today I am pleased to share the report’s findings with you. I welcome the very positive conclusions which endorse our current approaches, including the report’s conclusion that ‘[t]he broad consensus from stakeholders indicates that the Welsh National Marine Plan is fit-for-purpose and is effective in delivering marine planning in Wales’. I also welcome the range of suggestions on how to build on progress so far, including:

• Building on our stakeholder engagement and increasing community involvement to improve the understanding and benefits of marine planning;
• Action to improve the protection and enhancement of our marine environment and planning policy focussed on improving resilience to the climate crisis, while supporting more joined-up planning and decision-making at the coast;
• Improving support for regulators and decision-makers with further guidance, tools and data to make effective decisions and progressing SRAs for further sectors; and
• Further developing the marine planning evidence base, to improve our understanding of how best to guide sustainable development to appropriate locations while ensuring important environmentally sensitive areas are protected.

I’m pleased to confirm that work is already underway which will implement many of these findings. A clear message from the review is that development in the marine environment must be balanced with protecting, restoring and enhancing the diversity and resilience of our marine ecosystems. My officials are commissioning a study to consider how a marine net benefit approach, requiring biodiversity to be left in a better state following development, might help protect and enhance marine ecosystems.

Another key theme from the review was the importance of spatial prioritisation. Following the introduction of our first SRAs in January this year, my officials are working closely with stakeholders and industry to develop proposals for further SRAs for other sectors. 

The report also highlights the importance of stakeholder engagement. Our stakeholders bring a wealth of expertise and experience and stakeholder engagement has been an important part of developing and implementing our Marine Plan. My officials will continue to carry out regular engagement with stakeholders and partners across Wales, ensuring that our policy approaches are well tested and fit for purpose. 

Finally, I’m pleased to announce that, in response to the review and stakeholder views, my officials are planning to undertake, for the first time, a detailed spatial assessment of Welsh seas. This spatial analysis will be developed in collaboration with our partners, including leveraging evidence from The Crown Estate’s Whole of Seabed mapping, bringing together the best available evidence to inform marine planning. It will increase our understanding of marine natural resources as well as mapping potential conflicts and synergies between key marine sectors and also with nature. 

Given the wide-ranging and broad remit of the review and report recommendations, I will be prioritising my response. In the first instance, my officials will focus on actions set out in this Statement, which closely align with our Programme for Government commitments and the First Minister’s priorities, including ‘creating green jobs that tackle the climate crisis and restore nature’. I am confident that the findings of this independent review will also inform our approach to marine planning over the longer term, including future decisions on whether and how to amend or update the current Welsh National Marine Plan.

This review would not have been possible without the open and generous input from a range of stakeholders, and I wish to thank all of those who took the time to give their views. Marine planning is still a comparatively new system in Wales, and I am committed to continue to develop our planning process to ensure that our seas are healthy, clean and biologically diverse for the benefit of both current and future generations.