Did someone touch a nerve? Maybe this previous post or David Evans letter to Gazette but something seems to have provoked a reaction. Pretty quickly too.
click picture to access article on gazette website
To quote from the article
The council has denied there are any proposals to limit public access to the Naze.
It said: “A suggestion was made by an attendee of initial stakeholder workshop, suggesting the Naze should have seasonal access rather than 365 day access.
“However, this suggestion was not made by anyone from Tendring Council and is not repeated in the outputs of the follow up workshops.
Here’s a link to the minutes of a workshop held in march 2018. 7 out of 16 attendees were from Natural England which proposes restricting access to the Naze.
https://democracy.maldon.gov.uk/documents/s10933/Appendix%202.pdf
These proposals are incorporated into
Essex Coast Recreational disturbance Avoidance & Mitigation Strategy (RAMS)Habitats Regulations Assessment Strategy document2018-2038
on page 47 again suggests seasonal rather than 365 day access to the Naze
The gazette quotes Tendring Council as saying no one from the council suggested restricting access to the Naze, Maybe they didn’t actually say it, they just propose accepting the published Habitats Regulations Assessments.
To quote from this page https://www.tendringdc.gov.uk/essex-coast-recreational-disturbance-avoidance-and-mitigation-strategy-rams
Why is the Essex coast RAMS necessary?
The published Habitats Regulations Assessments (HRAs) for the relevant Local Plans have identified recreational disturbance as an issue for all of the Essex coastal Habitat sites.
Mitigation measures have been identified in the HRA (screening and/or Appropriate Assessments) for many of the Local Plans. There are similarities in the mitigation measures proposed, reflecting the identification of in-combination effects resulting from planned and un-planned growth in LPA areas.
Mitigation at this scale, and across a number of LPAs, is best tackled strategically and through a partnership approach. This ensures maximum effectiveness of conservation outcomes and cost efficiency. In recognition of this, Natural England recommended a strategic approach to mitigation along the Essex coast.
This strategic approach has the following advantages:
It meets the requirements of planning legislation: necessary to make a development acceptable in planning terms, directly related to the development and fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind to a development;
- It is endorsed by Natural England and has been used to protect other Habitats sites across England;
What is the current status of the Essex coast RAMS?
There is a final draft of the Essex coast RAMS, which each LPA is taking to its elected members for approval. Each LPA has its own timetable of committee dates, therefore the RAMS will be approved by different LPAs at slightly different times this spring.
The LPAs have also drafted a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) which will facilitate the delivery of the Essex coast RAMS. This is being reviewed by officers at each LPA and will be taken to elected members during the spring to seek approval for public consultation on the SPD. This consultation will take place during the summer of 2019, once local elections have taken place and in accordance with each LPA’s Statement of Community Involvement. It is anticipated that the SPD will be adopted by each LPA in late summer 2019.
And There’s More
Other concerns are (not a complete list)
- Sailing and jet skiing out of Titchmarsh marina and Walton Yacht Club
- Walking on the saltmarsh is also disturbing birds on the south easterly side of Hamford Water
- Promote alternative sites for wind surfers and canoeists away from The Naze such as St. Osyth Lake/Jaywick/end of Clacton beach
- Drone activity and paramotors over SSSI/SPA –witnessed at Manningtree and Mistley Walls
- Kayakers accessing saltmarsh at inappropriate times, e.g. close to high tide roosts
- Water skiing is common in Holbrook Bay and speed limits are not kept to in Jacques Bay. This should be enforced to reduce disturbance.
- Jet skis and canoes disturbing wader high tide roosts in main channel of the Colne Estuary and Strood Channel.
- The popular beach by Point Clear commonly has kiteboarding which is disturbing terns and ringed plovers
- Canoeists disturb high tide roosts on the River Blackwater although there is no infrastructure providing access to water for boats
- Kite surfing and Para hang-gliding are a problem on the wider parts of the estuary and paramotors have caused disturbance at Tollesbury
- East Osea is a very popular picnic area which is un-authorised
- Keep shingle spit free from public access at Tollesbury Wick
