Marine Plan Areas
Summary
The Marine Plan Areas are 11 sub-areas of the English inshore and offshore marine planning regions. The marine plan authority (the Secretary of State in England) is responsible for preparing marine plans for these 11 plan areas with responsibility for plan development delegated to the Marine Management Organisation (MMO). The MMO may wish to make specific local modifications to boundaries if it is perceived that the proposed boundaries could lead to unnecessary difficulties with either the implementation of the Marine Policy Statement or the integration with planning and management mechanisms on land. The boundaries will be subject to stakeholder consultation through the Statement of Public Participation - a process undertaken at the start of plan making. The MMO may wish to make specific local modifications to boundaries if it is perceived that the proposed boundaries could lead to unnecessary difficulties with either the implementation of the Marine Policy Statement or the integration with planning and management mechanisms on land. The boundaries will be subject to stakeholder consultation through the Statement of Public Participation - a process undertaken at the start of plan making.
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Use limitation statement
There are no public access constraints to this data. Use of this data is subject to the licence identified.
Licence
Open Government LicenceAttribution statement
© Marine Management Organisation copyright and/or database right 2024. All rights reserved.
Technical information
Update frequency
asNeeded
Lineage
Using bio-geographical regions and administrative boundaries, English waters were divided into a number of offshore and inshore plan areas. The inshore areas extend to the 12 nautical mile limit and the offshore areas extend from the territorial sea limit to the UK Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Modifications of the marine plan areas were made in July 2010 following a public consultation (led by Defra in October 2009). Further modifications by the MMO are as follows: October 2010: to align the landward boundary with Ordnance Surveys Mean High Water (springs) definition (OS Boundary Line, May 2010). In England this OS definition follows Mean High Water rather than Mean High Water Springs, therefore it is not a definitive landward boundary and only acts as a proxy for the landward extent of the marine plan areas. July 2012: to align the outer offshore boundary with the UK Renewable Energy Zone, as per the guidance outlined in the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009. June 2014: to align the outer offshore boundary with the newly adopted UK Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Amendments were made following the Exclusive Economic Zone Order 2013 (2013 No. 3161). The most significant changes can be seen in the South West Offshore Plan Area. The North West marine plan area was divided into an inshore and offshore for the purposes of consistency with the other plan areas. A number of minor topographical corrections/improvements were also made. October 2017: to align the Solway Firth Marine Plan Area boundary in accordance with The Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundary Order 1999 Article 3, Schedule 1, Part 2, Solway Firth coordinate 6 (54� 56 22N, 03� 20 48W). Ammended from (54� 56 39N, 03� 20 48W). July 2018: to update the landward boundary with Ordnance Surveys Mean High Water definition (OS Boundary Line, May 2018). March 2022: to align the SW_i and NW_i plan area boundaries to the Ordnance Survey Extent of Realm definition adjacent with Wales (OS Boundary Line, October 2021). Public response to consultation on the draft Marine Bill indicated that plan areas should be designated on bio-geographical regions rather than political boundaries and so plan boundaries are based on the regional reporting areas laid out in Charting Progress, Water Framework Directive regions, ICES proposed eco-regions, Natural Englands Marine Natural Areas and Sea Fisheries Committee/IFCA regions. The 12-mile limit acts as the boundary between inshore and offshore plan areas. Planning areas are constrained by the borders with Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Vector data delineating the national borders, the 12-mile limit and the Charting Progress regions were merged to generate the regional boundaries.
Spatial information
Coordinate reference system
http://www.opengis.net/def/crs/EPSG/0/27700Geographic extent
- Latitude from: 49.943 to 55.816
- Longitude from: -6.236 to 2.072
Metadata information
Language
English
Metadata identifier
57623221-8afc-410f-b977-4747e680adca
Published by
Marine Management Organisation
Contact publisher
data@marinemanagement.org.ukDataset reference dates
Creation date
21 July 2010
Revision date
12 October 2023
Publication date
N/A
Period
- N/A