Lead Contact Details

Name: Andy Tharme (Ecology Officer)
Email: ATharme@scotborders.gov.uk
Tel: 01835-826514

Status

Local Authority

Geography Area Covered

Scottish Borders Council area down to mean low water

Membership Details

The partnership governance groups this organisation is represented on

Marine Protected Areas

Responsibilites

Management Actions

Scottish Borders Council has the following management measures in place to ensure its functions and regulatory powers are carried out in a manner that achieves the conservation objectives for the inshore marine protected areas in which it operates:

1. All strategic plans and policies produced by Scottish Borders Council (SBC) will be subject to an Appropriate Assessment, where required.
2. All planning applications will be subject to a Habitat Regulations Assessment, where required.
3. Where unconsented works take place, SBC will ensure enforcement action is taken if those works have negatively impacted the features of marine protected areas listed above.
4. Shoreline management plan reviews will take coastal squeeze of protected habitats into account and will be subject to an Appropriate Assessment, where required.
5. Capital coastal protection schemes will consider opportunities to work with natural coastal processes as alternatives to hard defences and all projects will be subject to a Habitat Regulations Assessment, where required.
6. The sensitivities and conservation objectives of marine protected areas will be embedded in oil and chemical spill contingency and response plans, and the plans will be subject to an Appropriate Assessment, where required.
7. There will be no mechanical beach cleaning at Coldingham Bay.
8. The Coldingham Bay Management Plan and bylaws will implement measures that promote the achievement of conservation objectives for the marine protected areas listed above, and will not include measures that hinder these objectives.
9. Dead marine mammals washed up on Coldingham Bay will be reported to the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS) and any other relevant bodies.
10. Scottish Borders Council will raise awareness of the sensitivities and the significance of the local marine environment, and its responsible use, through education and engagement.
11. Scottish Borders Council will continue to collect litter that has been salvaged from the sea from harbours and beaches, under the Fishing for Litter initiative.
12. Work initiated and delivered through the Fisheries Local Action Group (FLAG) will support the conservation objectives of marine protected areas listed above. Any plans or projects initiated by the FLAG will be subject to a Habitat Regulations Assessment where required, with advice provided by Scottish Borders Council ecological staff and Scottish Natural Heritage.
13. LBAP action plans will be developed for features of the marine protected areas listed above.

Data, Information and Mapping

Scottish Borders Council holds the following data that could be of interest to other partners who are responsible for managing marine areas:

• Phase 1 Habitat Survey (contact Council directly for details of access)