Pilot Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters Marine Spatial Plan. Strategic Environmental Assessment Post-Adoption Statement.

1 Introduction

1.1 Background

1.1.1 A working group consisting of Marine Scotland, Orkney Islands Council and Highland Council developed the Pilot Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters ( PFOW) Marine Spatial Plan (the Pilot Plan). The Pilot Plan sets out an integrated planning policy framework to guide marine development, activities and management decisions in the PFOW area, and promoting integrated and sustainable decision on marine use and management. It also seeks to balance the needs of a diverse range of economic sectors including commercial fishing, renewable energy, tourism, recreation, aquaculture, shipping, and oil and gas, amongst many others; with those of local communities, whilst also protecting the environment on which these depend.

1.1.2 The Pilot Plan has been developed as a non-statutory document, building upon previous work undertaken in preparing the Planning Issues and Options Consultation Paper ( PIOP) published for consultation in May 2013 ^[1] , and the Consultation Draft of the Pilot Plan published in June 2015 ^[2] . It takes forward the proposals set out in both Papers, in the context of the views of respondents from the two consultations and the input of stakeholders from discussions held in its development. The Pilot Plan has also been prepared to establish a useful basis for the preparation of statutory Regional Marine Plans for the Orkney and North Coast Scottish Marine Regions, and through the publication of its Lessons Learned Report, help to inform the development of other Regional Marine Plans elsewhere in Scotland.

The draft Pilot Plan was subject to Sustainability Appraisal ( SA) which comprised a Strategic Environmental Assessment ( SEA), Habitats Regulation Appraisal ( HRA) Record and a Socio-economic Assessment ^[3] . Regional Locational Guidance ( RLG) ^[4] and a Socio-economic Baseline Review ^[5] were also prepared and published alongside the draft Pilot Plan to inform its development. It is anticipated that the Pilot Plan, supported by these documents, will become a material consideration in existing consenting processes and help to guide developers, planners and other stakeholders towards sustainable decision making and co-operative management of the PFOW marine area.

1.2 The Sustainability Appraisal ( SA)

1.2.1 A SA was prepared during the development of the draft Pilot Plan and this was published for consultation alongside the draft Pilot Plan in June 2015. The SA process was undertaken in parallel to the Plan development from an early stage to enable decision-making to be informed by relevant environmental and socio-economic information.

1.2.2 The SA incorporated three main components:

• A SEA required under Directive 2001/42/ EC and the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005 (the 2005 Act).
• A Socio-economic Assessment.
• A record of work undertaken to meet obligations under the European Commission ( EC) Habitats Regulations (a HRA).

1.2.3 These assessments were undertaken iteratively alongside the preparation of the draft Pilot Plan, and their findings were jointly presented in the SA Report. The integration of these separate assessment components into one report provided several benefits. For example, this enabled the potential for cumulative impacts on the environment, communities and other sea users to be considered in a cohesive way, and assisted recommendations of a holistic nature to be drawn. This was considered to be a particular benefit in the development of the Pilot Plan; especially given the close interactions of environment and socio-economic aspects within the PFOW area, and the prominent role that the marine environment plays in supporting the many communities in this region.

1.3 This Post Adoption Statement

1.3.1 The requirements for the post-adoption stage of SEA are set out under Part 3 of the 2005 Act. This stage involves the publication and advertising of the finalised Plans and a statement setting out:

• How environmental considerations have been integrated into the plan (Section 18(3)a of the 2005 Act).
• How the environmental report has been taken into account (Section 18(3)b of the 2005 Act).
• How consultee opinions have been taken into account (including transboundary consultations) (Section 18(3)c and d of the 2005 Act).
• The reasons for choosing the plan or programme as adopted, in the light of the other reasonable alternatives considered (Section 18(3)e of the 2005 Act).
• Measures to be used to monitor the significant effects of the plan (Section 18(3)f of the 2005 Act).

1.3.2 This SEA Post Adoption Statement (this Statement) fulfils these requirements and brings together the findings of the SEA, HRA and Socio-Economic Assessment, a summary of the views expressed in the consultation on these documents and an overview of those on the draft Pilot Plan itself.

1.3.3 Together, the Consultation Analysis and Modifications Report ^[6] for the Pilot Plan and this Statement have been prepared to set out how these findings and views have been considered in the development of the Pilot Plan.

1.4 Structure of this report

1.4.1 This statement is structured as follows:

• Section 1: Sets out background information on the Pilot Plan, the SA process and the set out of this Statement.
• Section 2: Sets out the three stage process undertaken in developing the Pilot Plan.
• Section 3: Presents a broad summary of the views expressed in the consultation on the PIOP and the Draft Environmental Report published for public consultation, and an overview of the findings of the Draft Environmental Report. This section also sets out how these views and findings have been considered in the development of the Pilot Plan.
• Section 4: Presents a summary of the views expressed by respondents to the consultation on the draft Pilot Plan.
• Section 5: Presents an overview of the findings of the SA and a summary of the views expressed by respondents to the consultation the SA. This section also sets out how these views and findings have been considered in the development of the final Pilot Plan.
• Section 6: Sets out the rationale behind the development of the Pilot Plan and its policies, including discussion on the reasonable alternatives considered and assessed in the SA process.
• Section 7: Sets out the monitoring framework and next steps of the process.

1.5 Links to Relevant Documents

The Plan Scheme

1.5.1 A link to the Plan Scheme is available from: http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0040/00408910.pdf

The Planning Issues and Options Consultation Paper ( PIOP)

1.5.2 Links to the PIOP and related documents are set out below:

• The PIOP is available from: http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2013/06/9672/0.
• The Consultation Analysis for the PIOP and its Draft Environmental Report is available from: http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0043/00439683.pdf.
• The Consultation Report for the PIOP and its Draft Environmental Report is available from: http://www.gov.scot/publications/pilot-pentland-firth-orkney-waters-marine-spatial-plan-consultation-report/.
• The Draft Environmental Report is available from the SEA Database: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Environment/environmental-assessment/sea/SEAG.

The draft Pilot Plan

1.5.3 Links to the draft Pilot Plan and related documents are set out below:

• The Consultation Paper for the draft Pilot Plan is available from: https://consult.scotland.gov.uk/marine-scotland/pfowmarinespatialplan/supporting_documents/PFOW%20MSP%20Consultation%20Draft.pdf.
• The SA Report is available from https://consult.scotland.gov.uk/marine-scotland/pfowmarinespatialplan/supporting_documents/PFOW%20MSP%20%20Sustainability%20Appraisal.pdf and is on the SEA Database at: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Environment/environmental-assessment/sea/SEAG.
• The Socio-economic Baseline Review is available from: https://consult.scotland.gov.uk/marine-scotland/pfowmarinespatialplan/supporting_documents/PFOW%20MSP%20%20SocioEconomic%20Baseline%20Review.pdf.
• The RLG is available from: www.gov.scot/pilotpentlandfirthandorkneywatersmarinespatialplan-regionallocationalguidance.

The Pilot Plan

1.5.4 Links to the Pilot Plan and related documents are set out below:

• The Pilot Plan is available from: www.gov.scot/pilotpentlandfirthandorkneywatersmarinespatialplan.
• The Pilot Plan summary is available from: www.gov.scot/pilotpentlandfirthandorkneywatersmarinespatialplan-summary.
• The Consultation Analysis and Modifications Report for responses received in the consultation is available from: http://www.gov.scot/pilotpentlandfirthandorkneywatersmarinespatialplan-consultationanalysisandmodificationsreport.
• The Lessons Learned Report is available from: www.gov.scot/pilotpentlandfirthandorkneywatersmarinespatialplan-lessonslearned.
• The HRA Record is available from: www.gov.scot/pilotpentlandfirthandorkneywatersmarinespatialplan-habitatsregulationsappraisalrecord.
• The Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment ( BRIA) is available from: www.gov.scot/pilotpentlandfirthandorkneywatersmarinespatialplan-businessandregulatoryimpactassessment.
• The Equality Impact Assessment ( EqIA) is available from: www.gov.scot/pilotpentlandfirthandorkneywatersmarinespatialplan-equalityimpactassessment.