Notice by the Secretary of State under section 52 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949: Harwich to Shotley Gate, lengths HSG1 and HSG4
Published 31 August 2021
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2021
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coastal-access-section-52-notice-for-harwich-to-shotley-gate/notice-by-the-secretary-of-state-under-section-52-of-the-national-parks-and-access-to-the-countryside-act-1949-harwich-to-shotley-gate-lengths-hsg1
Introduction
On 22 January 2020 Natural England submitted a compendium of coastal access reports relating to the stretch of land between Harwich and Shotley Gate to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs under section 51 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 (“the 1949 Act”), pursuant to its duty under section 296(1) of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 (“the 2009 Act”).
This determination only relates to length reports HSG1 and HSG4. The proposals within length reports HSG2, HSG3, HSG5 and HSG6 will be determined separately.
In reaching a determination under section 52 of the 1949 Act the Secretary of State has considered:
a. Harwich to Shotley Gate length reports HSG1 and HSG4 – part of Natural England’s coastal access report compendium for Harwich to Shotley Gate submitted to the Secretary of State on 22 January 2020;
b. in accordance with paragraph 16(1)(d) of the Schedule, representations made by a person within paragraph 2(2)(b) to (f) of the Schedule and the summary of other representations made, and Natural England’s comments on those representations which it sent to the Secretary of State on 26 April 2021.
In this notice –
(a) “objection” means an objection about the coastal access report which is made under paragraph 3 of Schedule 20 of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009; and
(b) “representation” means a representation about the coastal access report which is made under paragraph 7 of Schedule 20 of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009.
Secretary of State’s approval of coastal access proposals
The Secretary of State has determined to approve in full those proposals for the route and associated coastal margin as set out in length reports HSG1 and HSG4, in relation to which no objections were made.
Where proposals are approved in full, the additional conclusions and observations of the Secretary of State in relation to the representations are set out at Annex A to this notice.
The Secretary of State has made available at www.gov.uk:
a. a copy of this notice;
b. Representations made by a person within paragraph 2(2)(b) to (f) of the Schedule, and Natural England’s comments on those representations, which it sent to the Secretary of State on 26 April 2021; and
c. Summary of other representations, and Natural England’s comments on those representations, which it sent to the Secretary of State on 26 April 2021.
Natural England has also made available here:
d. Harwich to Shotley Gate - the compendium of coastal access reports.
Annex A: conclusions and observations on representations
The Secretary of State has considered, in relation to the coastal access report, the following representations made under paragraph 7 of the Schedule.
Representation No MCA/HSGstretch/R/3/HSG0739
Name of representation: Colchester Borough Council, on behalf of Essex Coast RAMS Steering Group
Length Report and route section(s):
Whole stretch (note that Secretary of State’s comments pertain to lengths HSG1 and HSG4 only)
Secretary of State’s conclusion and observation:
Secretary of State notes the update in the representation and Natural England’s comments.
Representation No MCA/HSGstretch/R/4/HSG0739
Name of representation: Colchester Borough Council, on behalf of Essex Coast RAMS Steering Group
Length Report and route section(s):
Whole stretch (note that Secretary of State’s comments pertain to lengths HSG1 and HSG4 only)
Secretary of State’s conclusion and observation:
Secretary of State notes the update in the representation and Natural England’s comments.
Representation No MCA/HSGstretch/R/6/HSG0038
Name of representation: Essex County Council
Length Report and route section(s):
Length Reports 1 to 4 (note that Secretary of State’s comments pertain to lengths HSG1 and HSG4 only)
Secretary of State’s conclusion and observation:
Secretary of State welcomes support for Natural England’s proposals. Notes Natural England acknowledges the cartographic errors raised which it addresses elsewhere.
Representation No MCA/HSG1/R/1/HSG0730
Name of representation: The Ramblers, Essex
Length Report and route section(s):
Length Report 1, all route sections
Secretary of State’s conclusion and observation:
Secretary of State welcomes support for Natural England’s proposals.
Representation No MCA/HSG1/R/3/HSG0038
Name of representation: Essex County Council
Length Report and route section(s):
Length Report 1, HSG-1-S002, HSG-1-S010, HSG-1-S017, HSG1-S024
Secretary of State’s conclusion and observation:
Secretary of State notes Natural England has addressed errors raised by Essex County Council and the corrected maps are available on gov.uk.
Representation No MCA/HSGstretch/R/5/HSG0737
Name of representation: Tendring District Council
Length Report and route section(s):
Length Reports 1 to 4, HSG-1-S001 to HSG-4-S019 (note that Secretary of State’s comments pertain to lengths HSG1 and HSG4 only)
Secretary of State’s conclusion and observation:
Secretary of State notes the representation and welcomes support for Natural England’s proposals. Notes Natural England’s comments against the points raised where these relate to HSG1 and HSG4, and considers the proposals are appropriate.
Representation No MCA/HSG1/R/2/HSG0723
Name of representation: Disabled Ramblers
Length Report and route section(s):
Length Report 1, all route sections
Secretary of State’s conclusion and observation:
Secretary of State encourages Natural England to work with Essex County Council and the Disabled Ramblers to increase the accessibility of the trail where possible and avoid infrastructure being the limiting factor for users with mobility issues.
Representation No MCA/HSGstretch/R/2/HSG0675
Name of representation: Suffolk County Council
Length Report and route section(s):
Length Reports 4 to 6 (note that Secretary of State’s comments pertain to length HSG4 only)
Secretary of State’s conclusion and observation:
Secretary of State welcomes support for Natural England’s proposals and notes Natural England’s comments regarding the proposed review of maintenance funding. Notes other points raised do not relate to HSG4.
Representation No MCA/HSG4/R/4/HSG0730
Name of representation: The Ramblers, Essex
Length Report and route section(s):
Length Report 4, HSG-4-S001 to HSG-4-S022
Secretary of State’s conclusion and observation:
Secretary of State welcomes support for Natural England’s proposals.
Representation No MCA/HSG4/R/3/HSG0655
Name of representation: The Ramblers, Suffolk
Length Report and route section(s):
Length Report 4, HSG-4-S019 to HSG-4-S034
Secretary of State’s conclusion and observation:
Secretary of State welcomes support for Natural England’s proposals.
Representation No MCA/HSG4/R/5/HSG0734
Name of representation: Chair of Footpaths sub-committee, Brantham Parish Council
Length Report and route section(s):
Length Reports 4 and 5, HSG-4-S023 to HSG-5-S002 (note that Secretary of State’s comments pertain to length HSG4 only)
Secretary of State’s conclusion and observation:
Secretary of State welcomes support for Natural England’s proposals. Notes Natural England’s comments regarding its proposed route and ability to propose changes in future if necessary. Is satisfied the proposals are appropriate.
Representation No MCA/HSG4/R/6/HSG0725
Name of representation: Private individual
Length Report and route section(s):
Length Reports 4 and 5, HSG-4-S027 to HSG-4-S035 and HSG-5-S001 to HSG-5-S002 (note that Secretary of State’s comments pertain to length HSG4 only)
Secretary of State’s conclusion and observation:
Secretary of State recognises views of the estuary are limited in this area but notes the reasoning set out by Natural England and considers its proposals are appropriate.
Representation No MCA/HSG4/R/7/HSG0723
Name of representation: Disabled Ramblers
Length Report and route section(s):
Length Report 4, HSG-4-S010 and HSG-4-S011
Secretary of State’s conclusion and observation:
Secretary of State welcomes support for Natural England’s proposals. Encourages Natural England’s commitment to work with Essex County Council and the Environment Agency to ensure the new ramp is suitable for large mobility vehicles.