The Solent Freeport bid was submitted by Solent Local Enterprise Partnership based on a coalition of businesses, associated local authorities and other partners. In today's budget announcement, the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak announced that Solent has been selected as one of the eight UK sites for which Freeport's will now be developed. This report from the … Continue reading Solent Freeport bid shortlisted in the Chancellor’s Budget announcement

What do we do with the reports on Marine Licence Applications which we publish every month on this website? Every month our council considers these applications and decides whether SPS should respond to the consultation invitation. Often, of course, there is no need for SPS to get involved but sometimes we respond, usually with requests … Continue reading Actions from our Marine Licence Application updates

The following article written by our Chairman, David Sizer, appears in the Autumn edition of 'The Yachter', the house magazine of the Royal Southampton Yacht Club. The Solent Protection Society (SPS) is a registered charity which was established over sixty years ago at the time when controversially, a Nuclear Power Station had been proposed in … Continue reading SPS Article in ‘The Yachter’ – Autumn 2020

The Environment Agency is the environmental regulator for the water industry in England, tasked with oversight of the nine water and sewerage companies that operate in England. On Friday October 2, 2020, the Environment Agency published their long awaited ‘Environmental Performance Assessment (EPA) results 2019 for water and sewerage companies’ document and we are deeply … Continue reading Southern Water – The worst performing water company in the UK

Concerns about disturbance and pollution Worldwide, ports, industry, housing and associated infrastructure have crowded onto estuaries that were previously quiet marshy areas, the preserve of birds, invertebrates and fish; places of peace and beauty. In many cases abroad, the loss of habitat, increased pollution and disturbance has destroyed these valuable environments, requiring major regeneration programmes. … Continue reading Solent European Marine Sites (SEMS)

Our lunchtime speaker in Southampton for March is Jacob Keen–Hammerson, UK Project Co-ordinator for the Blue Marine Foundation. Blue Marine Foundation (BLUE) is a charity dedicated to restoring the ocean to health by addressing overfishing, one of the world’s biggest environmental problems. Globally, an estimated 85% of oyster beds and oyster reef habitats have been lost, … Continue reading March Speaker – Blue Marine Foundation

I can still remember as a young teenager my amazement when told that there were flowering plants living completely submerged in the sea. Our sea grasses or eelgrasses, Zostera spp, form an important inshore plant community in the Solent and surrounding areas. There are 3 eelgrass species in British waters and all are considered vulnerable … Continue reading Seagrass in the Solent

Because of the extensive shipping movements and numerous marinas welcoming boats from overseas, the Solent receives a large number of new species from other parts of the world, often attached to hulls or in ballast water. This has long been the case and many, often termed invasive species, are far from welcome. DNA analysis of … Continue reading News on new and recently introduced species to the Solent area