Brighton Marina dredge disposal
We are appalled that the Marine Management Organisation has granted Brighton Marina’s Marine Licence renewal to continue dumping dredged sediment on the sensitive chalk reefs and the other amazing marine habitats in Beachy Head West Marine Conservation Zone.
We believe this activity is fundamentally incompatible with protecting such an important protected site. The water quality of our sea is already in dire need of improvement because of pollution with sewage, chemicals and sediment, and pouring sludge directly into a supposedly protected site makes a mockery of the Government’s targets to improve the marine environment. We will be reviewing options for further action once we have considered all the detail.
Beachy Head West is a Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ), which is similar to a nature reserve at sea. It’s a nationally important wildlife hotspot home to Short-snouted Seahorses, Blue Mussel beds and a unique intertidal chalk reef.
As a protected area, the aim is to safeguard and restore the sensitive marine wildlife and habitats in the area, which is part of a network of marine protected areas around the UK.
Dumping dredged sediment here will instead smother and pollute the reef and its special wildlife.
There are knock-on impacts for people too: the area is a popular surf spot and the impacts of sediment disposal are known to affect water quality
Read more about our concerns over dredge disposal.
Time to rethink
Brighton Marina's licence was originally granted before the MCZ was designated.
Now that the area is protected, it’s not appropriate to allow this potentially harmful activity to continue. Under the current timeframe, the licence will renew in May 2025 and will set the dredging regime for the next ten years.
The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) recently ran a public consultation on the renewal of Brighton Marina’s licence and Sussex Wildlife Trust responded to raise an objection and outline our concerns.
The MMO announced their decision on 16 May, granting the renewal of Brighton Marina's licence for a further ten years.
As a public body, the MMO has a statutory duty to further the conservation objectives of the MCZ under the Marine and Coastal Access Act (2007) (section 125.2).
In response to our request for an update, the MMO stated on 24 March:
"We are currently in the process of reviewing and resolving consultation issues and are also awaiting monitoring requirements from our statutory nature conservation body (SNCB). Given the complex nature of this application and public interest received, the MMO has not met the 13-week decision making target for standard marine licence applications. This is due to the additional processing time required to resolve consultation issues and management of the high volume of public responses received. The MMO are looking to reach determination imminently, following receipt of final advice from the Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies (SNCBs)."
Local MP Chris Ward shares our concerns about the licence renewal and recently met with the MMO, asking the CEO to look at this case personally and work with us to find a better solution.
We have also written again to Steve Reed MP, Secretary of State (SoS) for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to repeat our concerns about the licence and the need to divert dredging disposal to alternative sites (which are available). We want the SoS to review the case and ensure that the decision making is in line with guidance and the UK government's commitments to marine protection and the 30x30 goal.
We will continue to apply pressure to ensure the right decision is made.
Details on the licence application can be found on the MMO public register by searching for the case reference MLA/2024/00394