Marine Planning

Team Manager: James Green 

Current Consultations

The Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 introduced a new era for the management of Scotland’s seas, including provision for local stakeholders to prepare statutory regional marine plans at the local level.  Orkney Islands Council (OIC) delivers regional marine planning functions on behalf of Scottish Ministers, in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 12 and 13 of the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 and section 27 of the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018.  In essence, this means that OIC is preparing the Orkney Islands Regional Marine Plan, as outlined below. 

Marine planning improves our understanding of the distribution of human activities and natural assets, balancing priorities, and where appropriate allocating space, to achieve environmental, economic and social objectives. The introduction of marine planning enables a shift from the management of individual marine sectors to a more integrated approach that considers how human activities interact and effect our marine environment.

Further information can be accessed here:

• Orkney Islands Regional Marine Plan
• Orkney Marine Planning Advisory Group
• Regional Marine Plan for the Orkney Islands - Statement of Public Participation
• Orkney Islands Marine Region: State of the Environment Assessment
• Environmental Assessment of the Orkney Islands Regional Marine Plan
• Marine and Coastal Recreation Survey - Report
• Pilot Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters Marine Spatial Plan
• Join the Orkney Marine Planning Stakeholder Distribution List
• Orkney Marine Planning Updates and Newsletter