Continued dredging at Brighton Marina could threaten marine wildlife, campaigners have warned.
Brighton Kemptown MP Chris Ward and Sussex Wildlife Trust have slammed the decision to grant a 10-year licence to the owners of Brighton Marina.
The licence, issued by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) allows the marina to dispose of its dredged material off Rottingdean, which has been used as a disposal site since the 1970s.
Its feared this will threaten blue mussel beds, native oysters, and rare species such as the short-snouted seahorse. Residents have also raised concerns about sludge washing up on beaches and deteriorating water quality.
Mr Ward said: “I am furious that this license has been granted. I’ve been working with residents and local groups on this for months.
“There is uniform hostility to the license being awarded again — it flies in the face of the local community’s views and the MMO’s responsibility to protect our marine and natural environment.
“It can’t be right that unelected, unaccountable bodies like the MMO can ride roughshod over local concerns like this. This decision directly undermines the MMO’s own remit to protect and enhance our precious marine environment.”
Sarah Ward, marine conservation officer for Sussex Wildlife Trust said: “We are appalled that the Marine Management Organisation has granted Brighton Marina’s Marine Licence to continue dumping dredged sludge 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. This is a dark day for our efforts to restore our coastal special places.”
A spokesman for Premier Marinas said the licence had been issued following a detailed application process.
He said: “This allows essential site maintenance to continue in accordance with the Brighton Marina Act.
“Extensive testing confirms that the dredged material is not contaminated and remains suitable for disposal at sea.
“The application has been extensively reviewed and assessed in accordance with current legislation by the MMO, which, following broad consultation with statutory and non-statutory consultees, has deemed it acceptable to continue using the long-established disposal site while also ensuring the marine environment is appropriately protected.
“Their detailed decision documentation addressing concerns raised during the consultation is publicly available online and we encourage all those with an interest to read this.
“We take our responsibility to protect the environment within which we operate extremely seriously and assure everyone that in accepting the new licence, we will continue to undertake monitoring to the full specification established by the MMO through consultation with its statutory advisors.”
Meanwhile the Council ignore the Wildlife Act by chopping down trees all year round including nesting season, in breach of the Wildlife Act 1981.
A working Marina has to stay safe. Dredging is the only way. Dredging also prevents flooding so ever since widespread dredging was stopped, it has had disastrous environmental consequences in other ways.
Just to add some context. The council does have to follow the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, and you’re right that it protects nesting birds. However, not all tree works are illegal during nesting season — it depends on whether there’s an active nest, and qualified ecologists are usually brought in to assess that beforehand.
In Brighton’s case, a lot of recent felling has been due to serious diseases like Dutch Elm Disease and Ash Dieback, which can kill whole tree populations or pose risks to public safety. Brighton & Hove has one of the biggest elm populations in the country and a long-running Elm Disease Control Programme to protect it. Diseased trees often have to be removed urgently to stop further spread.
The Forestry Commission have been looking into felling up in Hollingdean which was done on a huge scale by the council and without licence.
You’re right that the council does need to follow legislation, but it doesn’t always do that Benjamin and it’s a bit naive to think they do. Yes tree management needs to take place around Dutch Elm disease etc, but the council can, and do, get some of it wrong sometimes.
Certainly, nuance is an important consideration here, and of course, no organisation or person is infallible, including me. I’m pointing out Mike’s tendency to overgeneralise and to be dismissive of structural complexity. It’s a great point, Jen.
Dredging, is a complex issue: it can help in some places but can also harm marine habitats and isn’t always effective for flood prevention. That’s why it’s tightly regulated. The challenge is balancing safety, environment, and legal responsibilities.
Nobody is disputing the dredging, Mike, they are disputing disposing the spoil in a shallow water marine conservation zone which directly impacts the ecology of on the intertidal zone, rather than simply disposing the spoil far out to sea in deep water where dispersal would be far greater and the impact on the environment far less significant.
This is simply madness from the MMO.
Going back to Jens point re the Forestry Commission, I hope they reintroduce the ‘massive tree planting’ which seemed to come to a halt after the Hollingdean/ Hollingbury woods incident. The council have a massive job with Ash-dieback and mistakes are bound to be made. They have been doing a great job with Dutch Elm Disease and continue to do so, but the woodland areas now need replanting.
……. so they`ve been doing this since the 1970’s and its only now become an issue….. Seems someone has found a cause celebre to further their political career ……………..
It’s not tree planting season at the moment
For best results it’s best done between November and March.
Planting them now risks them not thriving due to the lack of rain and hot weather and possibly even dying. And that would be a waste not only of the trees but also time and money.
Craven Vale is an excellent example of massive tree planting. Pretty sure that one guy has been involved with nearly all of them up in Craven Wood!
Maybe we can dredge up why the last MP Mr Moyle was mysteriously dis-placed in favour of this Starmer robot?
Who cares why he was displaced, he was useless and acted like a child. This guy at least is doing something for the whole ward, not self interest projects for the few.