Polygon

Regional marine planning will be undertaken by Marine Planning Partnerships, which will be made up of marine stakeholders who reflect marine interests in their region. The partnerships will vary in size and composition depending on the area, issues to be dealt with and the existing groups. Local Authorities, Inshore Fisheries Groups, Local Coastal Partnerships and their umbrella body, the Scottish Coastal Forum, will play a role in the development of regional plans. The 11 areas where MPPs can be established are defined in the 'Scottish Marine Regions Order 2015’ 

Regional marine planning powers will be delegated to the Partnerships by Scottish Ministers. These powers will not include licensing or consenting as these will remain the responsibility of consenting bodies such as Marine Scotland and Local Authorities.

Under the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010, Scottish Ministers were given the power to identify the boundaries of Scottish Marine Regions (SMRs) for the purposes of regional marine planning. The Scottish Marine Regions Order 2015 identifies 11 Scottish Marine Regions and establishes their boundaries. Mask layers have additionally been produced for NMPi depicting each of the individual Scottish Marine regions. This layer displays the North Coast and Orkney Islands Regions.

Under the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010, Scottish Ministers were given the power to identify the boundaries of Scottish Marine Regions (SMRs) for the purposes of regional marine planning. The Scottish Marine Regions Order 2015 identifies 11 Scottish Marine Regions and establishes their boundaries. Mask layers have additionally been produced for NMPi depicting each of the individual Scottish Marine regions. This layer displays the Orkney Islands Marine Region.

Areas of search (AoS) have been created using a multi-criteria analysis generated constraint map that shows a range of suitability for offshore wind energy locations. This constraint map is the product of overlaying and weighting 20 relevant layers in a GIS. From the least constrained/most suitable areas some broad zones are drawn. These broad areas are then refined into the AoS by investigating the geographic proximity to important offshore activities and issues. The activities considered to refine the footprint of the broad areas were: fishing, shipping, marine nature protected areas and oil and gas installations. These AoS will serve as guidance to developers and planners as to the most suitable sites for further offshore wind developments in Scottish waters. These sites provide a zone where developments will enjoy minimised obstacles to consenting and licensing whilst still benefitting from adequate resource and appropriate environmental conditions. These sites are recommended by Marine Scotland as places where the consenting and licensing process will be streamlined, expedient and efficient as the likely interactions to be encountered by developers have already been considered. Marine Scotland does not oblige developers to occupy these locations but to consider them as the most appropriate sites.