`The coastal zone of Bantry Bay is a stunning location, containing a precious, rich and unspoilt environment. The long, narrow bay is a safe harbour at the edge of the Atlantic ocean, sheltered between the mountainous spine of the Beara peninsula and the gentler rolling slopes of Sheep's Head . . . Islands are scattered the length of the bay, the largest of which, Bere, Dursey and Whiddy, are home to distinct communities . . ."
It isn't a tourist brochure, though it could have been. These are the seductive opening lines of a 120-page document which forms the basis for the first successful attempt of its type at drawing up a coastal zone management strategy in this State.
It began in 1997 with an ambitious wish-list, backed by a series of laudable but impossible principles - such as "consensus, partnership, transparency, social inclusion, improvement of the environment, the polluter pays, respect for traditional livelihoods". There was much reason to succeed but also good reason to be sceptical - Whiddy Island was the location of one of the worst disasters on the south-west shoreline in recent decades, when 50 men lost their lives after the French oil tanker, Betelgeuse, exploded in January, 1979.
Since then, Bantry has found its way back - through State investment in aquaculture and the eventual re-opening of the oil trans-shipment terminal. Commercial fishing, agriculture and tourism are also vital economic activities, involving some 12,000 people living and working in this coastal zone. But the extent of these activities has also led to conflict, and the aim of the charter was to try to deal with this at a local level.
Part-funded by the EU LIFE programme, the project involved a partnership between the local community and Cork County Council, the Coastal Resources Centre at University College, Cork, and the Nautical Enterprise Centre at Cork Institute of Technology. A project office was established in Bantry by Kevin Lynch of Cork County Council, and this was run throughout the past year by two co-ordinators, Harriet Emerson and Breeda Murphy. They began by setting up a roundtable, with places for representatives of all the stakeholder groups. These groups generated more than 200 distinct proposals, which were widely publicised.
After intense negotiation, the proposals were distilled into a set of principles, grouped into 21 issues. These include lack of co-ordination of policies and plans by regulatory bodies (including 13 Government departments) overlapping legal jurisdictions, lack of provision for oil emergencies, protection of heritage, shoreline access and housing.
Signing up to some sections involved a degree of pain - for the shellfish industry, for instance, which has already been hit hard this year by naturally-occurring toxins. The charter calls for a zoning plan in the bay which gives specified activities a priority in particular areas. It calls for research into mussel lines to make them less visually intrusive and allow for easier navigation. It also proposes that the regulatory bodies investigate the potential for a single marine service or sea ranger, to patrol activities on the water in the bay area.
The charter will not gather dust now, according to Lynch. Cork County Council recently advertised for two people to implement it, and it has been recommended for inclusion in the county development plan. "Ultimately, that decision is up to the elected councillors, but its whole ethos will be taken on board, particularly in relation to planning," said Lynch. It will also form part of the EU programme on integrated management in coastal zones.