ABSTRACT
The capacity is infinite, from the Northern Coast of Spain to the North Sea. So planning authorities along the coast face difficulties and ambiguities when considering activities taking place in their adjoining sea. Proposals for management of the seas suggest that there is a strong imperative to retain state control of the coming expansion of marine renewables, albeit within the more integrated framework of marine spatial planning. The open frontier experienced by planning authorities along the coastline has also given them licence to extend their concerns seawards. The expansion of offshore wind farms and other marine activities near the coast may be better served by the careful application of planning at the local scale. An interesting conclusion was reached through research into the only offshore wind farm proposal to date in the USA.
