Lymington-Yarmouth update

Wightlink has today submitted a Scoping Report to all relevant stakeholders as part of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of Wightlink’s proposals for the ferry service running from Lymington to Yarmouth. Wightlink has undertaken to complete a voluntary EIA of the  operation of the ferry service on the Lymington to Yarmouth route, which includes the implementation and completion of shore works at the ferry terminal and the mitigation works on the salt marshes to the east of Lymington River, together forming the Project for the purposes of the assessment. The Scoping Report will inform the content of the Environmental Statement (ES) for the Project which will accompany the applications for the relevant consents required to complete the Project. )For more information on the EIA process please see note to editors below) 

The Scoping Report has been submitted to all relevant stakeholders for the Project for comment, who include:

• New Forest District Council and National Park Authority who will determine the applications for planning permission for the Project and both of whom are competent authorities under the Habitats Directive and Regulations in relation to the grant of planning permission; 
• Marine Management Organisation who will determine the applications for the marine licences needed for the Project and is a competent authority under the Habitats Directive and Regulations in relation to the grant of marine licences;
• Environment Agency who will act as consultee to the local planning authorities and will be responsible for determining an application for flood defence consent for the shore works;
• Natural England who will act as consultee to the competent authorities in relation to the appropriate assessment required under the Habitats Directive and Regulations;
• Other Stakeholders including Lymington Harbour Commissioners and the Lymington River Association.

Full details of the parties who have been consulted can be found in chapter one of the Scoping Report.

Under the relevant legislation, the local planning authorities are required to provide their opinion on the scope of the ES having considered the Scoping Report and consultation responses to it. Their scoping opinion has to be issued by 29 July 2010.
A copy of the Scoping report is available here

Any person wishing to comment on the proposed scope of the EIA should write to the local planning authorities and any comments should be received in advance of the date specified above. Comments can also be submitted to Wightlink at the following address Wightlink c/o Alistair Billington, Environmental Resources Management, 2nd Floor Exchequer Court, 33 St Mary Axe, London EC3A 8AA. or alistair.billington@erm.com.

We would be grateful if any comments submitted to the local planning authorities could also be copied to Wightlink at Guwharf Road, Portsmouth, PO1 2LA. 

Note to Editors:

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is the process by which the environmental effects of projects are identified before the consents necessary for the relevant project are granted.  

The statutory bodies determining applications for those consents are required to take account of the information provided as a result of the EIA process in determining those applications.  That information includes the environmental statement (ES) Wightlink will submit with its applications for the consents it needs for the Project and the responses to consultation on the ES.  EIA ensures that decisions are made in the knowledge of the attendant environmental effects and with full engagement of statutory bodies, local and national groups and members of the public.

EIA has a number of stages. Scoping is the process of determining the content and extent of matters to be covered in the EIA generally and to be reported in the ES.  Scoping seeks to ensure that the information provided in an ES addresses the key effects of the Project.

The ES is the most visible part of the EIA process. It will draw together the findings of Wightlink’s technical studies undertaken to investigate the potential environmental effects of the Project. It is Wightlink’s responsibility to prepare the ES and present the information in a comprehensive, clear and objective manner for review by the relevant authorities determining consents required for the project, statutory consultees and members of the public.

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