Historic Marine Protected Areas - designation proposals: consultation report

Question 3

We asked:

“Do you have any comments on the draft Designation Orders?”

You said:

Six responses provided comments in response to this question, one of which was moved to Question 4 as it related to management advice. Nine responses provided no comments.

Issues raised relating to question three are summarised below along with responses:

Issue

Acknowledgement that Historic Environment Scotland had taken account of comments made in the original consultation.

Response

Noted

Issue

Concern that value of things from the past are potentially outweighing potential future uses of Scapa flow, and that if you leave anything long enough it will take on similar value in future.

Response

The wrecks of Scapa Flow that would be encompassed by this proposal form a significant part of the history of the First World War. It would be wrong to conflate this significant historic event with just leaving anything on the seabed for a long time. There are many other wrecks which would not meet the criterion of national importance and do not form part of the proposal. We do not think future development and continued use of Scapa Flow will be affected in a detrimental way.

Issue

Local fishermen stay away from the wrecks as they are a hazard for fishing gear.

Response

Noted.

Issue

Concern that the protection given to Scapa Flow MPA through the preservation objectives would exceed that provided by the current scheduled monument status.

Response

The extent of statutory protection afforded to wrecks through the Historic MPA, and therefore the implications for owners, should not be significantly different in practice, compared with the present status of some of the wrecks as scheduled monuments. The proposed preservation objectives set out situations where recovery of artefacts may be acceptable – this is where recovery might actually help to protect the artefacts or add to our knowledge. Such activities would primarily be regulated through marine licensing. With the current status of the wrecks as scheduled monuments, salvage of items by the owner would require scheduled monument consent (SMC) in addition to a marine license. HES considers each application on its own merits using the Scheduled Monument Consents Policy^[2]. The overall policy aim for SMC is that ‘works on scheduled monuments should normally be the minimum level of intervention that is consistent with conserving what is culturally significant in a monument’.

Issue

Concern that MPA status for Scapa Flow would prevent owner of some of the wrecks from undertaking salvage operations.

Response

The documentation makes it clear that commercial salvage would hinder the preservation objectives. Future proposals should be considered on a case-by-case basis through the relevant consenting procedures e.g. by applying for a marine license, and, for the wrecks that are currently designated as scheduled monuments, also scheduled monument consent from Historic Environment Scotland.

Issue

Noted that surface navigation would not be affected.

Response

Agreed.

Issue

Need for clear maps to accompany the designation order.

Response

Clear maps will be published alongside the designation orders.