Abstract
This document summarises the key findings of a workshop hosted by Welsh Government in Cardiff on the 14th and 15th July 2015. The workshop was facilitated by Natural Capital Ltd on behalf of a Client group of The Crown Estate, the Welsh Government, Natural Resources Wales (NRW), Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and Natural England (NE). Other Steering Group partners were Marine Scotland, RenewableUK and the Marine Management Organisation (MMO). Participants included representatives from a range of government organisations, statutory nature conservation organisations, demonstration zone and test site managers, developers and consultancies. A facilitated discursive approach was used at the workshop with participants working in small groups and in plenary session (see Chapter 21 ). It was informed by a Discussion Note which included workshop prompts. This was circulated in advance of the workshop (see Annex D).
The key objective of the workshop was to bring those with an interest in the wave and tidal stream sectors together to discuss and share ideas about some practical consenting and research issues relevant to demonstration zones and test sites and with potentially wider benefits to the wave and tidal stream sectors. These sites provide opportunities to develop and establish joint learning objectives relating to the environment and technical engineering aspects of device and array testing to ultimately de-risk project development and consenting. Joint working has the benefit of reducing the potential for inefficient and duplicated effort, sharing costs and taking a coordinated approach to dealing with shared issues.
Three key themes relating to UK wave and tidal stream demonstration zones and test sites were discussed at the workshop:
- Theme 1: Defining Rochdale envelopes for demonstration zones and test sites.
- Theme 2: Evidence requirements for demonstration zone and test site consents.
- Theme 3: Role of the demonstration zones and test sites in improving the environmental evidence base to de-risk consenting.