Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the fishing industry in Plymouth was notified of the (a) planned works by the Environment Agency on Sutton Harbour lock gates and (b) expected restrictions on their operations.

The Environment Agency (EA) has been in direct and regular liaison with Sutton Harbour Group (SHG) about the work required to repair the lock. This involved reviewing the proposed methodology and understanding the implications of the planned work, before SHG were able to engage directly with their customers.

The Sutton Harbour Group invited the fishing industry (through their mailing list of 96 fishers and vessel owners) to attend the Sutton Harbour Group quarterly meeting on 13 July 2022. The EA was invited to give a presentation at this meeting, which set out:

1. The need for the works, the nature of the works, and methodology
2. The consideration, in discussion with SHG, given on the access to the harbour, based on the arrangements used successfully during the gate replacement project in 2008.

A question-and-answer session followed the presentation, during which the EA gathered feedback to input to the planning process. Following this, a website was created to publish the latest updates for SHG’s customers: www.lockgates.info and work continues to develop mitigation plans both the fishing fleet and leisure berth holders.