Cut red tape hindering marine restoration to boost coastal towns – Tory MPs

The Conservative Environment Network (CEN) warned of the impact on towns of declining tourism and flooding, storms and coastal erosion, in a report outlining measures to help them.

Kitty Thompson, head of campaigns at CEN, said offering solutions for coastal communities could also help the Conservatives challenge Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

“The teal tide is not inevitable. Reform offers an easy outlet of anger for many coastal towns who have watched their neighbourhoods fade.

“But they won’t give these communities the solutions they deserve. If the Conservatives offer a pragmatic, credible alternative that can deliver for coastal communities, then they can challenge Reform in coastal target seats, stopping them in their tracks,” she said.

Jacques Villemot, marine rewilding lead for Rewilding Britain, said the current marine licensing framework is outdated and called for the application process for projects to be streamlined.

“This framework urgently needs to be updated to support marine rewilding projects. Though necessary, in its current format marine licensing acts as a blocker, a laborious and costly process which was designed for approving developments like huge oil rigs and large wind farms,” he said.

Full story