PARTICULAR
FEATURES AND
ARRANGEMENTS OF
THE SOLENT
AREA
The Solent area lies in the Hampshire Basin,
a geographical feature of recent geological age. It is surrounded
by chalk downs, with at its centre the large drowned river estuary
which has become the Solent, creating the Isle of Wight. Three
Shoreline Management Plans are being prepared, to cover the Isle
of Wight as a whole, and for both the Western and Eastern Solent.
The area is home to some one million people,
the majority living near to the coast in the Portsmouth Southampton
conurbation which includes the urban Boroughs of Eastleigh, Fareham,
Gosport and Havant. This is the largest conurbation in the south
east of England, outside London.
At the same time, the coastal zone is extremely
rich in sensitive wetlands and salt marshes, with some70 per cent
of them protected by national environmental designations, mainly
SSSIs, of which 90 per cent are also recognised as being of international
importance. As one member observed there are a "plethora
of acronyms" applying to the coastline which make it "unique".
Moreover, the Solent is internationally important
for marine activities including competitive recreational sailing
during Cowes Week, for example, as home to the Royal Navy at Portsmouth,
and has one of the United Kingdom's major commercial ports at
Southampton as well as one of its largest oil refineries—Esso
Fawley—on Southampton Water.
Not surprisingly, a number of voluntary local
arrangements have evolved for considering the management of the
area. With its extensive coastline, local authorities combined
to creat SCOPAC—Standing Conference on Problems Associated
with the Coast—which has now extended its membership beyond
the area. More recently local authorities have created the Solent
Water Quality Conference (SWQC) to monitor water quality on beaches,
for the benefit of the public.
Perhaps even more importantly, private, voluntary
and public sector organisations have now combined to create The
Solent Forum to share information and consult about their wide
range of interests and activities. Membership includes, Associated
British Ports, Esso Petroleum Company, British Marine Industries
Federation, the Queen's Harbour Master, SCOPAC, SWQC, Hampshire
Wildlife Trust, Solent Protection Society, English Nature, the
Environment Agency and all local authorities.
The Solent Forum has established a Solent Information
Network and has published "Strategic Guidance for the Solent",
something which was considered unachievable at its inception only
a few years ago.
This rich array of co-operative arrangements
provides on opportunity for wider awareness of how issues are
being managed, including those for Flood Defence, Coastal Protection,
and social and economic development matters.
15 April 1998
