Marine Conservation Zone Proposals for Wales

[baasboat1]

The Welsh Assembley Government have announced their proposals for consultation for the MCZ's for Wales

http://wales.gov.uk/consultations/envir ... s/?lang=en

This is staggering, the areas close to my heart in North Wales include some of the prime boating areas around the Llyn Pennisular. Areas 5 & 6 are of particular concern. The proposal is to create a zone around Bardsey Island - one if the best fishing and diving areas in the UK. Also a signficant area between Pwllheli, Llanbedrog down to st. Tudwals Islands and Carreg y Trai rocks, plus another round the mouth of the Dwyfor near Criccieth.
The area will prohibit all anchoring, diving, fishing (commercial and recreational) in these areas and in effect kill the marine trade on the Llyn in one fell swoop. Most boats in the area are based out of Pwllheli - either park and launch or in the marina. To have your main cruising ground made inaccesible to you will destroy the boating community - commerccial and recreational in an area that relies heavily on tourism. The boating trade is one of the main incomes in the area, with many tourists keeping boats there, plus having either holiday homes, caravans etc or staying in local hire accommodation. Spending cash in the local economy and putting some life inot the towns. Take away the boating and you take away a significant part of the local economy.
The consultation is open now until July and I would urge everyone to at least have a look and see what you think about it, it would be great if you could lodge your objections if you feel so inclined.

Sorry to have a rant on a Saturday morning, but I was incensed when I saw this proposal, they have taken no notice whatsovever of the impact this will have on boaters or more significantly the local economy. Its hard enough for people at the moment with the rising cost of fuel to afford to get to North Wales to go boating, let alone the increased cost of fuel for the boat. The local authorities have made it progresively harder to actually get there in the first place as well, despite having the A55 dual carriageway from Chester to Bangor, they have extended and lowered all the speed limits after that to ridiculously low levels for mile after mile of open countryside (now 30mph and 40mph) when it should be the usual rural 60mph limit. The total travel time to get there now is the same as it was 25 years ago! so a great fast road then painfully slow single carriageways afterwards. These people have no idea that a lot of tourists are now thinking of selling up and moving somewhere else, its getting to expensive and difficult now, take the boating away as well and what are you left with, an exodous.

sorry to rant, but this has really annoyed me

[Capn Jack]

This sort of thing is being played with all over the UK at the moment. I often wonder what the average person can do to have a voice and make themselves heard in order to get the know it alls to cancel the idea. Certainly there are some who get heard, often the tree huggers and other sorts, but how do we get heard.

If I find out I'll let you know.

[betty boop]

Windermere al over again, they have learnt there- they were learn in Wales and they'll do they same thing in Poole as well - I'd quite happily pay £5 a visit etc for the area to have an on site police force if they want to stop certain behaviour but why ban us all.

[jokaboat]

I was talking to a couple of people from the Marine Conservation Society and the Hampshire & IoW Wildlife Trust on Sunday who were discussing some MCZs around the Isle of Wight.

They are both keen divers and also fanatical about keeping our coastlines clean and safe for all to use. The proposal as it stands would set up total no go zones for about 70% of the Isle of Wight, and than means TOTAL no go. Areas affected would be

Alum Bay, Osbourne Bay, Whitecliffe etc etc. I.e. all the areas that are nice to anchor in. There seems to be a trend to stop nasty mega rich boat owners from cluttering up our coastline.

Interestingly the people that I was talking to were dead against the proposals and are more interested in access to all but perhaps with some restricted areas to allow the coast to have some "rest" areas. They were fighting the upper echelons who just want total bans. A well known area for this is Studland where they want to ban all anchoring.

They see the dangers as much more on a commercial level, over dredging of mussel beds, oil spills etc. The introduction of invasive species is also a worry, especially around busy ports like Southampton.

[Ed]

Absolutely insane all this talk. It would surely kill an entire industry stone dead.

[salamis]

Does seem to of taken off in a big way and seems to of come out of nowhere. Do the people of this country really worry that much about this stuff, or do they like to look out from these bays and see boats anchored off?
Is it actually headed up by Philanthropic eco worriors or is there other more lucrative sentiments involved along the lines of caron traiding? I'msure I don't know.

[betty boop]

may be theres a scrap GRP dealer somewhere headging his bets that 100's of vessels will soon be worthless and scrapped / sold to lithuania because the solent will be a no boat zone and the closest we'll get to boat pleasure is a round of beers in places like the saxon wharf dry stack museum.

[salamis]

Lets call for direct action a thousand boats turning up and anchoring inside these zones to show our disapproval that should do it!
I would also suggest the guys in Wales go first so we know what the repercussions are before the rest of us get involved. Or not as the case may be.

[betty boop]

Lets call for direct action a thousand boats turning up and anchoring inside these zones to show our disapproval that should do it!
I would also suggest the guys in Wales go first so we know what the repercussions are before the rest of us get involved. Or not as the case may be.

arresting a 1000 hairy un washed proteters - the authorities will think twice about it , arresting 1000 middle classed boat owners (dont forget all boat owners are loaded) and the authorities will bang you up quicker than a 3.0l mercusier burns petrol.

[baasboat1]

Lets call for direct action a thousand boats turning up and anchoring inside these zones to show our disapproval that should do it!
I would also suggest the guys in Wales go first so we know what the repercussions are before the rest of us get involved. Or not as the case may be.

Hmm, use us a Guinea Pigs then...nice

[jokaboat]

Good plan that man

[Doc Oakley]

Hi all

As a Chartered Biologist and a boater for nearly 40 years, I've got a foot in both camps on this one: seems to me that in the UK, the authorities have no concept of a 'halfway house' and can only think in terms of total bans or allowing free-for-all environmental abuse. One thing I know for sure, having being the vicitim of several work-related 'consultations' (consultation=we're going to do it our way anyway) is that doing nothing is not an option and perhaps reasoned alternative proposals from boaters and other users of the sea is the way forward?

[JORIDAPILOT]

Perhaps we need to start a campaign, similar to the FairFuelUK campaign, but for boaters. They seem to have had some success again with the latest deferment of the fuel tax hike.

We need a prominent spokeperson/ semi celebrity to front it. If there are enough voices then maybe the government will take note.

Otherwise it is upto everyone to anchor up in a massive raft and stick two fingers in the air, (and pray for fine weather)