MS, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet
Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs: For the first
time Wales is to have a specific marine planning tool which will
help to determine the future of our seas, as part of our
strategic planning to enhance the marine environment while also
generating clean green energy.
In 2019, we introduced Wales's first marine plan, setting out our
vision for the sustainable development of our seas and
establishing a new planning system. Today, I would like to
update the Senedd on a significant step forward in the
implementation of the plan, the introduction of the first
marine planning Strategic Resource Areas
(SRAs).
SRAs are a new and innovative marine planning tool which
will indicate which sectors may have priority over others in
specific areas. We must plan carefully for the future of
our seas, understanding the opportunities for generating
sustainable and green energy while also protecting and enhancing
our unique, irreplaceable marine environment. SRAs are an
important part of doing this. They will help us understand
where there are opportunities to take forward sustainable
development and how these relate to the most environmentally
sensitive areas which we must protect. They will also help
ensure that the decisions we take today have the interests of the
future at their heart.
Today, I am announcing the introduction of our first SRAs, for tidal
stream energy. Tidal stream is an emerging and
innovative sector, developing cutting-edge technology to generate
predictable and sustainable energy from our seas. It has
the potential to play a significant role in decarbonising our
energy system and achieving net zero, while offering high quality
employment and supply chain opportunities for our coastal
communities. Tidal stream is a sector at the early stage of
development and comes at a time when our seas are becoming ever
more busy. It is therefore important that we provide
certainty through marine planning on the long-term availability
of key areas with potential to support future activity.
SRAs will provide this certainty and aim to give confidence to
developers. They identify key areas with potential to
support future tidal stream energy generation and formally
safeguard the future availability of these areas for potential
tidal stream energy proposals. This does not mean that
proposals for development in these areas would be approved.
All proposals, whether within or outside of an SRA, will have to
apply for proper consents and must satisfy rigorous regulatory
requirements on environmental protection and social impact.
Development in the marine environment must be balanced with
the need to restore and enhance the diversity and resilience of
our marine ecosystems.
The development of SRAs has been a truly collaborative
process. The expertise and advice of our partners has been
crucial to developing the SRAs we have introduced today. I
would like to thank everyone who gave their time and expertise
freely to support this process. We will also be working
with our partners and stakeholders over the coming months to
support the implementation of SRAs.
In introducing SRAs for tidal stream energy, we are leading the
way, but there is more to do. We are already working with
our partners to develop proposals for SRAs for other important
sectors, including floating offshore wind. Alongside this,
we are developing guidance on how to enhance the marine ecosystem
through the marine plan. The introduction of SRAs also marks
the first step towards providing greater guidance through our
marine planning system on where and how much future development
might be possible, while protecting and enhancing our precious
marine environment. Now is the time to act with ambition;
and to understand how we can go further, my officials have
commissioned a review of marine planning approaches.
Our seas are an incredible natural asset, which have the
potential to be central to addressing both the climate and nature
emergencies. I firmly believe that our marine planning
system has a key role to play in realising this potential,
guiding and supporting sustainable development to benefit our
coastal communities and economy while also protecting and
enhancing our marine environment.
