To enable the Cabinet to consider the recommendations made to it by the Planning Policy and Local Plan Committee in relation to the adoption of the revised Essex Coast Recreational Disturbance Avoidance and Mitigation Strategy.

RESOLVED that Cabinet formally -

(a)     adopts the revised Essex Coast RAMS and associated tariff, as set out at Appendix 1 to this report (A.1), superseding the original Essex Coast RAMS (2018-2038) Strategy;

(b)     approves the implementation of a revised RAMS tariff of £476 per net additional dwelling (or equivalent qualifying development), to take effect from 1 August 2026;

(c)     withdraws the adopted Essex Coast RAMS Supplementary Planning Document (SPD), noting that its content is no longer fully aligned with the revised Strategy, evidence base and tariff;

(d)     agrees to replace the SPD with an Essex Coast RAMS Technical Advice Note (TAN); and

(e)     authorises the Corporate Director (Planning and Community), in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Housing and Planning, to finalise and publish the TAN for use alongside the updated RAMS Strategy.

Cabinet considered a reference report that enabled it to consider the recommendations made to it by the Planning Policy and Local Plan Committee in relation to the adoption of the revised Essex Coast Recreational Disturbance Avoidance and Mitigation Strategy.

It was reported that the Planning Policy and Local Plan Committee (“the Committee”), at its meeting held on  8 June 2026 (Minute 8 referred), had considered a detailed report of the Corporate Director (Planning and Community) (A.3) which had sought the Committee’s agreement to the adoption of the revised Essex Coast Recreational Disturbance Avoidance and Mitigation Strategy (Essex Coast RAMS) and associated tariff, and which had set out the changes from the original 2018 RAMS strategy. That report had also sought the Committee’s agreement to the updated governance framework supporting Essex Coast RAMS, including the withdrawal of the existing Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) and its replacement with a Technical Advice Note (TAN).

Following such approval by the Planning Policy and Local Plan Committee the revised Essex Coast Recreational Disturbance Avoidance and Mitigation Strategy (Essex Coast RAMS) and associated tariff, as attached in Appendix 1, (replacing the existing 2018–2038 Strategy), was required to be submitted to Cabinet for formal adoption.

At its aforementioned meeting, the Committee had been reminded that the Essex Coast RAMS set out how the Council, working in partnership with other Essex authorities, would protect the unique wildlife of the Essex coastline whilst enabling new homes and development to come forward. It provided a co-ordinated, partnership-led approach to mitigating the recreational impacts of new residential development on protected coastal habitats and bird populations, ensuring that planned housing growth across Essex could take place in a lawful and sustainable way, whilst safeguarding sensitive species and habitats protected by international nature conservation designations.

Members were made aware that the strategy established a strategic framework to address the in-combination effects of residential development on internationally designated coastal habitats and enabled the Council, in its role as Competent Authority, to meet its statutory duties under the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017(as amended).

It had been reported to the Committee that RAMS funding had already delivered tangible mitigation measures along the Tendring coastline, including the Coastal Ranger Service, targeted visitor engagement and behaviour change initiatives, and partnership projects such as Share Our Shores to protect beach-nesting birds. Those interventions, supported by ongoing monitoring, had demonstrably improved ecological outcomes and were particularly important in managing peak seasonal visitor pressures.

Cabinet was informed that the updated Strategy was supported by a refreshed evidence base, including a new visitor survey, and introduced significant changes to the scale and duration of mitigation required. Most notably, it ensured mitigation was secured for the full lifetime of development and reflected a substantial increase in planned housing growth across the Zone of Influence (ZOI) arising from the Government’s revised mandatory housing targets. As a result, the RAMS tariff was proposed to increase to £476 per dwelling (or qualifying unit), ensuring that the full cost of mitigation was applied  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8