Area 498 Pre‐Dredge Review

Summary of work completed

MarineSpace was commissioned by Britannia Aggregates Ltd and Volker Dredging Ltd in 2014 to undertake a Pre‐ Dredge Review (PDR) and produce a non‐ technical report for Licence Area 498 for submission to the regulators. Area 498 is a new marine aggregate Licence Area with no historic dredging.
MarineSpace ensured the focus of the PDR was to deliver on all requirements of the conditions associated with the Marine Licence. To further ensure all regulatory requirements were met, any outstanding environmental conditions identified with the EIA, that required further information and assessment prior to dredging commencing were considered.

The final PDR provided a summary of monitoring work undertaken and results drawn from this. These results now provide a revised characterisation baseline which all future impacts of dredging can be assessed from.
In completing the PDR MarineSpace met the following objectives:

• Review and assessment of geophysical data to gain baseline information on aggregate resources and features of conservation and archaeological interest;
• Interpretation and assessment of the seabed bathymetry and seabed sediments, utilising MBES and SSS data; and
• Provision of recommendations for mitigation and future monitoring with regards to any identified features of interest.

MarineSpace staff were able to utilise specialist knowledge and experience of marine aggregate dredging operations and the marine historic environment to provide a clear and comprehensive document, meeting all client and regulatory requirements.