Active Dredge Areas
Building upon our ongoing commitment to responsible management through continual development, we have taken a new initiative to provide more detailed information on the zoning of marine aggregate licence areas located around the coastline of England and Wales.
The area available to be dredged (active dredge area) is usually defined by the limits of the licence itself. However, in a number of cases the area available to be dredged at any one time is restricted through zoning schemes - introduced either as licence conditions or as voluntary initiatives by the dredging companies themselves. These reduce the extent of the environmental impact of dredging operations, as well as aiding the management of sand and gravel resources and liaison with other marine users - particularly the fishing industry.
While information on zoning arrangements is widely circulated by individual operators, discussions with the fishing industry identified the need for clear and up-to-date regional overviews. As a result, a series of charts have been produced defining the current active dredge area for eight separate regions; East, East English Channel, Humber, North West, Owers, South, South West and Thames. On the second page of each are the associated co-ordinates for each licence area together with contact details for the operating companies.
The active dredge area charts are updated biannually and can be accessed by following the links below, or downloaded from the BMAPA website. Copies will also be distributed via the established dredging liaison committees on the south and east coast.
Active Dredge Area Charts
The responsibility for dredging companies to undertake the appropriate consultation and notification for site-specific changes to zoning arrangements remains unchanged.
Licensed Dredging Areas
Licensed Dredging Area Charts
Licensed dredging areas are shown in red in the map above. To download PDF format charts of individual licensed dredging areas, please follow the links below:
Dredging Application Areas
Dredging application areas are the precursors to full licensed dredge areas. Current application areas are detailed in the next set of charts, showing initial application areas which have been submitted to The Crown Estate. The area extents shown may be further reduced when submitted to government prior to being granted licensed dredge area status.
Dredging Application Area Charts
Statistics
These statistics refer to removal of sand and gravel from the bed of the territorial sea and continental shelf, under licence from The Crown Estate. Removals from areas not in Crown Estate ownership are not included, nor are dredged materials removed purely for navigational reasons and dumped.
All permitted and actual extraction figures are expressed in metric tonnes. A conversion factor of 1.73 and 1.66 as appropriate for aggregate, and 1.5 for sand, has been applied where necessary to convert cubic metres to metric tonnes. The regional landing port totals will not equate to the amount dredged from each region due to the presence of the export market, and movement of aggregate to meet differing home market demands.
The next set of links lead to summaries of resources as at 31 December 2007 and statistics relating to royalty returns for calendar years 2004 - 2007:
Reserve & Statistics Information
Historical information showing the summary extraction figures for each dredging area is available via the following link:
Further Information
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