Schedule 1
Marine and Coastal Access Bill [Lords]
1:15 pm
Andrew George (St Ives, Liberal Democrat)
I support the amendment. Given the strategic importance of the UK’s marine energy resource, the timely delivery of renewable energy targets should surely be part of the MMO’s remit and objectives. The fact is that some in the renewable energy sector are concerned that the MMO will be answerable solely to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and not to other Departments, and therefore that the organisation might have too much of an environmental base and might not be sufficiently considerate of the Government’s climate change objectives. Those wider, global conservation considerations must surely be part of the MMO’s activities.
The hon. Member for East Devon mentioned the South West of England RDA’s wave hub project. In fact, it is not in Plymouth; it has been proposed and recently licensed for the north coast of my constituency. The cable will be set out from Hayle and anchored about 10 km off the north coast of my constituency. It is an exciting and experimental project, and it is vital that the UK takes the opportunity to lead the world in that aspect of scientific and engineering development. Such a window of opportunity has been provided by the licensing and preparatory work that is in place. I would be significantly reassured, not only on offshore wind facilities, which hon. Members have mentioned, but on tidal and wave renewables facilities, if the MMO had the capacity to consider not only the science, but the vital and complex engineering challenges that many stakeholders must consider. I hope that the Minister will take the amendment on board. Extending the appointments from science to engineering and ensuring that the organisation has such capacity is something that the Government should support.