Wildlife Trust claims victory in dredging battle

Species such as the short snouted sea horse live in the marine conservation area

The Sussex Wildlife Trust is celebrating victory in a legal battle over planned dredging off the coast of the county.

The Trust had challenged a decision by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) to allow Brighton Marina to dispose of material in the Beachy Head West Marine Conservation Zone.

On Tuesday the Trust heard its challenge in the High Court had been successful.

The MMO said it did not defend the challenge as it had not assessed "whether the application had avoided, minimised or mitigated adverse impacts."

The dredging is needed to keep the entrance to Brighton Marina navigable, but Henri Brocklebank, the trust's director of conservation, said it would have meant one million tonnes of sediment being dumped over 10 years.

She said: "It's 33,000 shipping containers worth of spoil - if that was on the South Downs everyone would lose it, but it's at sea.

"It's a really special, important, internationally rare habitat."

A decision on where the spoil will now be dumped has yet to be made.

"The marina is still going to need to be clear for boat users" said Ms Brocklebank, "so we anticipate they will move at a reasonable pace but following a suitable process."

Henri Brocklebank of the Sussex Wildlife Trust says the conservation area is "internationally rare habitat"

An MMO spokesperson said: "We notified the judge of our intention not to defend the judicial review on our decision to grant a marine licence for Brighton Marina Dredge and Disposal.

"This decision was based on one of the points raised by Sussex Wildlife Trust.

"We accept that when making the decision, we concluded that any adverse impacts on marine protected areas were within acceptable limits but did not consider whether the proposal triggered the need to avoid, minimise or mitigate the adverse impacts and did not assess whether the application had avoided, minimised or mitigated those adverse impacts."

Follow BBC Sussex on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail] or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.