Premier Marinas submits Brighton dredging application and seeks permission to dispose of material at Newhaven site

The application to the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) also seeks permission to dispose of dredged material at an established marine disposal site off Newhaven.

Premier Marinas, which owns and operates various locations on the south coast, announced on Monday, October 19, that is asking for a ten-year licence.

The company said this follows months of ‘detailed technical work’ to assess Newhaven’s suitability as ‘a dependable long-term solution for Brighton Marina’.

John Cervenka, chief operating officer at Premier Marinas, said: “For more than a year, there has been real uncertainty around the future of maintenance dredging at Brighton Marina. Getting to the point where we can submit this application is therefore an important step, but it isn’t the end of the process.”

Premier said maintaining navigable depths at Brighton Marina is essential for making sure vessels can enter and leave safely. It said the marina needs regular maintenance dredging because sediment naturally accumulates in its entrance and navigational areas.

Dredged material has previously been disposed of at a licensed Rottingdean site, which was established for this purpose before the area was designated a Marine Conservation Zone in 2013. In May last year, the MMO granted Premier a new ten-year licence to continue dredging and disposal at Rottingdean, but this was subsequently quashed after a legal challenge by Sussex Wildlife Trust on the MMO’s decision-making process.

Premier said that, following the ‘quashing’ of its ten-year licence in 2025, dredging has not been able to take place while alternative licensing routes have been looked at. The company now hopes to restart maintenance dredging in spring 2027, subject to the determination of its new application.

Premier said that once this application has been validated, it will enter the MMO’s formal consultation process. This gives berth holders, marina businesses, marina users and members of the community a chance to submit representations.

John Cervenka said: “What happens next matters to a lot of people. Berth holders, commercial operators and businesses at the marina understand first-hand why reliable access is so important, and the formal consultation gives them an opportunity to make their voices heard. We’re not asking people to become experts in sediment modelling. We’re asking those who know and use Brighton Marina to explain their own experience and why maintaining safe, dependable access matters to them. At the same time, the technical evidence can be scrutinised through the proper regulatory process.”

Premier said an Environmental Impact Assessment screening application covering dredging at Brighton and disposal at Newhaven was submitted to the MMO in May. The company said the MMO finished its screening in June and confirmed that the proposed works did not require a full Environmental Impact Assessment.

Premier said it then commissioned specialist marine consultancy ABPmer, working with Newhaven Port, to undertake detailed sediment dispersion modelling of the disposal site. It said the work examined 15 disposal scenarios, covering ‘varying combinations of activity’ by Brighton Marina and Newhaven Port. This included modelling a scenario ‘combining maximum disposal intensity from both locations’.

The company said modelling and supporting assessments have now been submitted to the MMO as part of the application.

Premier called the marina ‘an important centre of employment and economic activity’, saying that almost 150 businesses depend on it directly. It said these include commercial fishing operators, dive charters, sail training and marine tourism businesses, as well as hospitality, leisure and retail businesses. The company said about 1,200 people are employed directly across the site, adding that the marina supports economic activity worth about £130million in GVA (gross value added) every year.

Premier said the MMO is expected to open consultation in October or November, against the application reference MLA/2026/00477.