We are also looking at ideas for interpretation and wayfinding for the Weymouth Station Gateway. This involves looking at the provision of information using the cultural heritage of the sites. We will be working with our partners to look at the interpretation options. If you would like to add your thoughts, stories or ideas to new interpretation planned for Weymouth Station, please get in touch.

Studland Bay 3Cs Partnership Project
DCF will be facilitating stakeholder engagement for the Studland Bay 3Cs Partnership Project which aims to devise a solution to meet the needs of recreational boaters and protect the seagrass habitat and the diversity of marine life this habitat supports, such as the protected Spiny Seahorses and Undulate Rays.  This project is independent of the Marine Management Organisation’s (MMO) Voluntary No Anchor Zone (VNAZ) being introduced from the 17 December 2021. Find out more about VNAZ here.

As we are approaching the festive break, the DCF team would like to wish all our members a very Happy Christmas and we look forward to more coastal collaborations next year! The team will finish for Christmas on Thursday 23 December and will be back on Tuesday 4 January.

FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE DEVELOPMENT WORK

• The survey for the English Aquaculture Innovation Hub closed on 22 November. 85 responses from across the English aquaculture and related sectors were received. We are really pleased with the general positive response to this. Of the 85 stakeholders that completed the survey, 80% were aquaculture businesses and 83% of respondents said the concept of an Innovation Hub is relevant to them or their business. During the first week of this month we have held a series of workshops to help understand in more detail some of the less defined outcomes of the survey. Martin and team will work on analysing the results of the survey and comments from the workshops in early 2022 and feed those into the final options paper in Spring 2022.
• Martin presented at the North Devon Maritime Event in Barnstaple at the end of November. The conference was aimed at economic regeneration of the North Devon area, focusing on new businesses and enhancing the natural biodiversity of the area. The North Devon coast has been awarded UNESCO Bio-sphere status with Torridge District Council and Devon County Council are looking at the work DCF has been doing over the last four years to promote sustainable fisheries and aquaculture to understand how they can learn from our experiences and replicate them there.
• Martin has now helped 17 businesses successfully apply to the Fisheries and Seafood Scheme for a grant from the MMO. The scheme is still available, and, you know what to do if you, or anyone in your network, wants to apply for a grant. There are also several other seafood and fisheries focused funding streams available and Martin can also help with applications to these funds. The full list can be found on the Seafish website here along with Martin’s contact details.

WEYMOUTH BRIC

• Community engagement work has begun, with visits to local businesses and organisations to discuss the priorities of the area. We are also finalising the plans for our initial community drop-in sessions taking place in January. These will be a chance for the local community to ask questions, make suggestions and get their voices heard.  We will advertise these once the dates are confirmed.
• We have already had interest in the recruitment of Flood Wardens, and hopefully the January engagement sessions will bring more interest. As a part of the ‘Dorset Prepared’ event in March 2022, training will be provided for the new Flood Wardens, with the potential for more localised training after that.
• We are working with Weymouth Town Council, the Dorset Council Conservation Team and Ogoxe (BRIC project partner) to confirm the location of the information Totem. We are also in conversation with local artists for the potential design of the Totem which we plan to bring to wider consultation.
• For more information, please contact dan.williams@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk or visit Weymouth BRIC – Dorset Coast Forum

SUSTAINABLE SWANAGE

• As this year draws to a close, we are looking towards 2022 and drawing up a calendar of events for the coming year, ideas include events to help reduce waste such as clothes swaps and also events to improve knowledge and skills for example in sewing, bike repair and home composting. We would like suggestions from the community of events they would like to see so please get in touch.
• The Sustainable Travel group car club survey is still open to establish interest in the idea for Swanage.
• We will be continuing working with Litter Free Dorset on the business survey and increasing engagement with businesses for 2022.

Merry Christmas!

See the full December eNews HERE