Application Prioritisation Scoring System
The Maritime Area Regulatory Authority plays a key role in streamlining the consenting system for the maritime area, including assessing Maritime Area Consent (MAC) applications which are required by developers before development permission can be granted and assessing maritime usage licence applications for specified activities under schedule 7 of the Maritime Area Planning Act 2021.
MARA has developed a dynamic and structured system for the prioritisation of all MAC and licence applications to provide for effective decision making and to ensure that applications of national strategic importance are prioritised and delivered in a timely manner. When a complete application is received, the application is ranked according to four specific prioritisation criteria; namely National and European priorities, Policy and Regulatory, Assessment Status and Application Age. The prioritisation of applications is reviewed by MARA on a monthly basis.
Application Prioritisation Criteria and Scoring Range
Criteria | Description |
|---|---|
National and European priorities | Applications identified as contributing to National and European priorities such as: Security of energy supply (e.g. Offshore Renewable Energy) European Telecommunication Cables Critical State Infrastructure or Utilities Risk to Life (emergency works)* Risk (Routine works) Compliance, enforcement and regularisation priority |
Policy and Regulatory | Applications linked with national policies and regulatory priorities such as: The National Ports Policy Marine Strategy Framework Directive Water Framework Directive Climate Action Plan Designated Maritime Area Plans |
Assessment Status | Applications for which all of the required information has been submitted to MARA and the assessment process is close to finalisation. |
Application Age | The date on which a complete application was received by MARA. |
