NEW REPORT: RED TAPE IS BLOCKING ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL RENEWAL FOR SEASIDE TOWNS

• The Conservative Environment Network has published a report that offers economic investment, nature recovery, and coastal protections for seaside towns. 

• Welcomed by Shadow DEFRA Secretary Victoria Atkins MP, the paper proposes four policies, notably cutting the red tape that is holding back marine restoration businesses from bringing jobs and vital protections to coastal areas. 

• These are common-sense policies that will enable the Conservative Party to deliver on the priorities of coastal communities and fight Reform in these electoral battlegrounds. 

[3rd August 2025] Today, the Conservative Environment Network has launched a new report Making Waves: A conservative plan for nature-based coastal renewal and resilience. The report proposes four bold policies to support seaside towns that are on the front line of economic stagnation and climate change. 

For too long, declining tourism and increasingly devastating flooding, storms, and coastal erosion have impacted the economic fortunes and environmental resilience of coastal communities. 67% of English coastal towns are in the higher deprivation category and 3,500 properties in England are at risk of disappearing entirely due to coastal erosion. 

Britain’s coastlines have also experienced a significant decline in natural habitats, having lost around 85% of its saltmarshes and 92% of its seagrass meadows. This includes: Essex coast salt marshes, the Wash salt marshes, Solent marshes, and Morecambe Bay. 

In response to worsening floods and rising sea levels, the government has mainly relied on concrete-based sea defences, with over 263,000 assets, like sea walls and groynes, now lining England’s coast. But these assets are expensive, carbon-intensive, and often counterproductive. 

Therefore, CEN is putting forward four policies that aim to stimulate economic investment and protect seaside communities by rejuvenating Britain’s lost coastal habitats. As well as providing protection against flooding and storms, seagrass also sequests carbon up to 35 times faster than tropical rainforests. 

In particular, we are calling on red tape to be streamlined for new marine restoration projects. The Solent Seascrape Project is a pioneering initiative to restore saltmarsh, seagrass, oyster reefs, and seabird nesting sites between the Isle of Wight and mainland England. It is set to grow the £47 billion of value and over 500,000 jobs that the ‘blue economy’ currently offers Britain, yet the project has been bogged down in red tape. They are required to have ten licenses including a Marine Management Organisation licence, planning permission, consent from the SSSI bodies, the Crown Estate, and the Environment Agency. An MMO license alone costs £10,000. Additionally, they are required to seek advice from statutory bodies, some of whom charge for their services. 

This red tape is stopping these existing projects from getting off the ground, while the failure to publish new blue carbon codes is blocking significant new investment coming into restoring these communities and nature. 

This report puts forward four policies: 

• Streamline regulation for marine restoration businesses. 

• Unlock private investment by publishing the blue carbon codes.

• Use the flood defences budget to fund more nature-based solutions.

• Designate more highly protected marine areas (HPMAs) in English waters to protect wildlife from damaging practices like bottom trawling

Rt Hon Victoria Atkins MP, Shadow Environment Secretary, said:

“Britain’s once buzzing seaside towns are facing growing economic and environmental pressures. The Conservatives are determined to set out a plan to protect our coastal communities and preserve them for future generations. I welcome CEN’s latest publication as a valuable conservative contribution for consideration in our ongoing policy renewal programme.

“Needless red tape continues to hamstring investment into marine restoration projects that could bring coastal communities jobs, nature abundant habitats, and protection against the growing threats of climate change. Cutting this red tape is the common-sense approach the Conservatives champion that shows we are the only party standing up for Britain’s coastlines.”

Dame Caroline Dinenage MP, Chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, said: 

“As the MP for Gosport, Stubbington, Lee on the Solent and Hill Head, I know how precious Britain’s coastlines are. They were once home to thriving, unique wildlife, whilst hosting families for quintessentially British trips by the seaside.

“But our coastal towns are on the front line of climate change, from erosion to flooding to storm surges. We need to take action to protect these communities.

“CEN’s latest publication smartly combines economic rejuvenation and nature restoration to offer pragmatic policies that can protect coastal communities. By cutting red tape, we can unleash investment to restore the diminishing natural environment and provide jobs to my constituents. This will ensure that the likes of the Solent Seascape Project can finally have the protection, economic investment, and nature restoration they deserve.”

Kitty Thompson, Head of Campaigns at the Conservative Environment Network, said: 

“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.

“A concerted effort to restore nature to the marine environment can and must play a key role in the Conservatives’ plan for coastal communities. By cutting unnecessary red tape and establishing new carbon markets for marine habitats, we will not only restore nature, but drive economic growth along our coasts, helping to unlock new jobs and business opportunities, whilst increasing their resilience to the likes of flooding, storm surges, and coastal erosion.”

Jacques Villemot, Marine Rewilding Lead for Rewilding Britain, said:

“Every day it is becoming more apparent how crucial our Ocean is to the health of our planet, wildlife, climate and communities. Yet, our seas are struggling, and many ecosystems are broken. The coastal communities who know them best are ready to take action to restore them back to health – but this vital work is being impeded by an outdated and ill adapted licensing system.

“This framework urgently needs to be updated to support marine rewilding projects. Though necessary, in its current format marine licensing acts as blocker, a laborious and costly process which was designed for approving developments like huge oil rigs and large wind farms. This negative marking system looking only at potential damage to the marine environment does not account for the benefits these restoration projects can bring.

“We need the political will to urgently update this framework to support community action for our seas. Doing so will create a pipeline of investible projects, scaling up opportunities and de-risk private investment.

“Streamlining the application process for these projects will catalyse new coastal jobs, from those managing the nature recovery projects, to those delivering on the ground. We’re also looking at a big uptick in local volunteering opportunities. But more will benefit besides. Restoring Britain's marine habitats at scale will create areas that act as a nursery for commercially significant fish species, and provide opportunity for sustainable mariculture. Let's help our fish stocks recover to support local fisheries.

“Nature tourism will be another beneficiary. The visitor centre alone of the community led COAST project on the Isle of Arran is now welcoming over 12,000 visitors a year interested in the project's progress. From wildlife tours and boat trips to B&Bs, local pubs and shops, the whole community stands to benefit from a system that enables coastal recovery projects. Finally, rewilding our seas will also provide a solution to the crucial health crisis coastal towns in the UK are suffering from by delivering a multitude of proven physical and mental health benefits.

“There are so many reasons we should be making it simpler for those that want to restore our coastal waters and the re-dynamisation of our coastal towns and cities is but one.”