Dear Mr Shepherd

Thank you for your letter of 8 November and I have received a number of letters on these controversial proposals.

Thank you also for sending me your email following the recent public consultation and I have to say that I am not surprised that the proposals received such unanimous opposition.

I feel it was important for the County Council to carry out the consultation process, particularly as it was chaired by the local County Councillor who had her own personal connections to the fishing industry and could therefore be an informed representative.

It is my view that the County Council should now abandon its current proposals and go back to the drawing board and try to produce a revised scheme which would be much smaller in area and which would take into account some of the commercial and angling criticisms which have been made, both at the meeting and in correspondence.

It is essential for any such no take zone to have broad local support, otherwise it simply will not work. It is impossible to provide some sort of policing of the zone on a twenty-four hour, seven-day week basis and thus voluntary restraint is essential.

This would require overwhelming local support, which the current scheme does not have and therefore the County Council must think again.

with kind regards

Yours Sincerely

Colin Breed MP

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