News & Events
Marine Scotland - Offshore Wind in Scottish Waters Consultation Workshop - Thursday 5th August
A consultation event is being held in Edinburgh to discuss the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Draft Plan for Offshore Wind in Scottish Territorial Waters.
This SEA provides a framework for progressing the development of offshore wind energy out to 12 NM, and along with the draft plan presents the Government’s vision for offshore wind development up to 2020 and beyond. The draft development plan has identified 10 sites as the short term option (2010-2020) and an additional 25 areas as medium term options (beyond 2020) for developing offshore wind.
The Offshore Wind SEA and Draft Plan are open for public consultation until 16 August 2010. A number of events have been set up around Scotland, where Marine Scotland officials will be on hand to provide more information about the Plan and other projects relating to offshore wind, wave and tidal energy, and to hear your comments.
The Edinburgh event will be held on Thursday 5 August at Victoria Quay, Leith, Edinburgh, EH6 6QQ, from 2-4pm.
Other regional events are being held in Ullapool (3 August), Inverness (4 August), Dumfries (6 August), Wigtown (6 August), Campbeltown (9 August), Oban (10 August), Lerwick (11 August), Peterhead (12 August) and Stornoway (13 August).
If you would like to attend an event, please just let the team know by emailing offshorewindconsultation@scotland.gsi.gov.uk or calling them on 0131 244 1617. Please feel free to forward this invitation to anyone you feel would be interested in attending.
If you are unable to attend any of the events, you can still put forward your views by responding to the consultation. The documents are available on the Scottish Government website – www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations. You can submit your response by email to offshorewindconsultation@scotland.gsi.gov.uk or by post to:
Offshore Wind Consultation,
Marine Scotland,
Area 1-A (South),
Victoria Quay,
Edinburgh,
EH6 6QQ
Marine Conservation Society - Cramond Adopt-a-Beach Event and Beachwatch Big Weekend - Saturday 19th September 2010
The next Cramond Adopt-a-Beach event will be held on Saturday 19th June. The meeting point will be at the start of Cramond causeway at 10am. Please wear suitable outdoor clothing and footwear, and bring suncream and a hat if it is sunny.
For further information contact Anne Saunders, Scottish Projects Officer, Marine Conservation Society, 3 Coates Place Edinburgh, EH3 7AA, 0131 226 2391 email: anne.saunders@mcsuk.org or visit www.mcsuk.org
Other ways you can support MCS
The Adopt-a-Beach and Beachwatch projects, as well as the other projects that MCS runs, would not be possible without the support of our members. We are a charity, and all donations and membership subscriptions go directly toward our work to protect our seas, shores and wildlife. All donations and subscriptions are gratefully received, so please take a moment to look at our website www.mcsuk.org for information on membership and our Adopt-a-Turtle project.
Marine Conservation Society - Beachwatch Big Weekend 2009
The results of the Beachwatch Big Weekend 2009 beach litter survey were published on 26th March 2010. To download the press release and view the Beachwatch 2009 summary report, click on the links below.
Press Release (.pdf 617kb)
Beachwatch 2009 Summary Report (.pdf 4.03mb)
Forth Replacement Crossing Update April 2010
In December 2007, the Scottish Government announced its intention to build a cable stayed bridge to the west of the existing Forth Road Bridge. The Project team set up by Transport Scotland has been developing the new design and carrying out much investigative works during 2008. The announcement, in December 2008, confirmed that the new bridge will be built alongside the existing road bridge. The new bridge will be cable stayed and carry two lanes of traffic in either direction. The existing bridge will be adapted for buses and taxis. Pedestrians and cyclists will continue to use the existing bridge to cross the Forth. The new bridge will have a hard shoulder on either side and this is expected to reduce traffic delays. Buses will use the hard shoulder when wind conditons prevent them using the existing bridge. Wind shielding will protect the crossing from high winds.
A series of public information exhibitions took place in January 2009 with a further round of public information exhibitions in August and November 2009. The Forth Replacement Crossing Bill was introduced into Parliament in November 2009. The project remains on schedule to start construction in 2011 and open in 2016.
For further information see www.transportscotland.gov.uk.