Marine Spatial Plan

The third edition of the Shetland Marine Spatial Plan is a living document and is currently under review following a public consultation.  You can however still download the Consultative Draft version here:

Part One - Policy Framework (2.38MB)
Part Two - Marine Atlas (5.63MB)

You can also download data for use with GIS or Google Earth.

Current and Future Projects

The following projects, funded by Marine Scotland, are being progressed through 2012:

• Mapping cumulative pressure areas based on ecosystem risk assessments
• Producing a Locational Guideline for Marine Renewables
• Monitoring and mapping invasive non-native species
• Collating information to study the impact of fisheries displacement

What has happened with your response to the consultation in 2010?

Thank you for the time you took to respond to the draft Shetland Marine Spatial Plan and the draft SEA Environmental Report developed by the Scottish Sustainable Marine Environment Initiative (SSMEI) pilot.

There was widespread interest and engagement with these consultations and there is no doubt that the many comments received have added significant value to the Marine Spatial Planning development process in Shetland.

The SSMEI pilot ended during the consultation period, so all responses to the Plan had to be shelved until additional funding was sought. Responses on the SEA were considered and can be viewed in the Post Adoption Statement. (PDF 2.21Mb)

All suggestions for amendment to the Marine Spatial Plan will soon be extracted into a Summary of Responses Report for you to view. We hope to have a revised iteration, taking account of your responses, available in November 2012. 

Background

Marine Spatial Planning is currently being implemented under the Marine (Scotland) Act, 2010 and UK Marine and Coastal Access Act, 2009.  It is a recognised tool for improved decision-making and will be instrumental in achieving the more sustainable management of our seas and coast.  It is envisaged that by 2013 all Scottish local authorities with a coastline within their jurisdiction will have to prepare their own marine spatial plan to sustainably manage marine-related activities.     

The Marine Spatial Plan for the Shetland Islands (SMSP) has been in development since 2006 under the auspices of the Scottish Sustainable Marine Environment Initiative (SSMEI).  The funding for the initiative ended in 2010, however the continued development of the SMSP remains a core part of the work of the NAFC Marine Centre.  The MSP represents an innovative approach to marine planning, based on Scottish Ministers' commitment to making marine management more efficient, inclusive and accessible now and for future generations.

A Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) has informed the development of the current Draft SMSP for the Shetland Islands.  This report is a live document which will be adapted, when required, during the plan preparatory process.  Although we are aware that not everyone will always be fully satisfied by the planning decisions that are reached, we hope that more developers will get more involved in the needs of other users in the future.

The final Shetland MSP will become formally adopted through Shetland Islands Council’s Development Plan as Supplementary Guidance in 2012.

Supporting documents:

Swarbacks Minn Sub-area Marine Spatial Plan (PDF 371Kb) 
Fair Isle Action Plan Summary (PDF 123Kb) 
Metadata database - compliant with INSPIRE, GEMINI and MEDIN standards (105Kb)