Marine Act (Northern Ireland) 2013

Consultation before designation

16.—(1) Before making an order under section 13, the Department must comply with subsections (2) to (4).

(2) The Department must publish notice of its proposal to make the order.

(3) The notice under subsection (2) must—

(a) be published in such manner as the Department thinks is most likely to bring the proposal to the attention of any persons who are likely to be affected by the making of the order;

(b) contain a statement of the terms of the proposed order.

(4) The Department must consult—

(a) the Secretary of State; and

(b) any other persons who the Department thinks are likely to be interested in, or affected by, the making of the order.

(5) If the Department fails to make the order before the end of the period of 12 months beginning with the date on which notice was published under subsection (2), then anything done by the Department for the purposes of complying with subsections (2) to (4) of this section is, for those purposes, to be treated as not having been done.

(6) In a case where the Department thinks that there is an urgent need to protect the area proposed to be designated as an MCZ, the Department need not comply with subsections (2), (3) and (4)(b).

(7) In such a case, the order designating the area as an MCZ remains in operation for a period not exceeding two years, unless the Department makes a further order before the end of that period confirming the designation.

(8) Before making such an order, the Department must comply with subsections (2) to (4) (and subsection (5) applies accordingly).