Brighton Marina dredging licence update

By Sarah Ward, Marine Conservation Officer

They say 'no news is good news', but for the Brighton Marina dredging licence we are on the edge of our seats awaiting news on a decision from the Marine Management Organisation (MMO). Frustratingly, there is no set timeframe by which a marine licensing decision must be made, so we may hear tomorrow, or not for another month or more. This makes it hard to plan, but the 'good news' is that it does give us time to reflect and plan.

Brighton Marina's annual dredging regime would usually have commenced by now, so although the timescale on licensing remains unknown, we assume the pressure is high to get something in place.

Without any insight into what the decision on the licence will be, we can only plan so far; however, we have been considering some of the possible scenarios that may play out, and indeed what our responsive action would be. The worst-case scenario, in our opinion, would be for the licence to be granted as per the application (i.e. with no monitoring requirements or consideration for future plans); the best-case scenario being a complete refusal of the licence with an alternative disposal site being required before dredging can continue.

Being realistic and pragmatic, it is unlikely either of these will transpire, with something in between being a more probable outcome.

Last month, we were pleased to meet Chris Ward, MP for Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven, alongside local representatives from Surfers Against Sewage, to discuss the issue. Chris remains keen to support efforts to secure a long-term, more sustainable solution to Brighton Marina's dredging needs.

Please continue to watch this space. We will issue updates when there is news to share.

As a reminder, we asked the MMO for:

• Full, formal commitment from the applicant and the MMO to permanently end the use of Rottingdean as a disposal site by the end of the licence period
• A suitable alternative site identified and opened within the 12-month timeframe of the licence
• Commitment to no further extensions to the 12 months applied for
• A suitable monitoring regime for the 12-month licence
• Appropriate stakeholder engagement and transparency