Despite my best efforts the planned dredging of Exmouth marina and dumping of silt at Sprey Point has begun. Much to my dismay the Marine Management Organisation will not call a stop, as they have granted the licence, writes Robert Phipps.

The MMO organisation directly consulted about a dozen organisations, but not Teignmouth town Council.

The public consultation for this license was carried out over a year ago when a notice was placed in the Exmouth Herald.

This information provided by the MMO raises lots of interesting questions.

What exactly were the responses from all of these organisations, if indeed there were responses from them all?

Why advertise in the Exmouth Herald and not the Teignmouth Post, as we are the recipients of this unwanted gift?

No one in Exmouth is likely to complain about our problems that may arise from this dumping.

Why was Teignmouth Town Council not consulted?

Why were we here in Teignmouth totally unaware of this planned activity?

I am totally exasperated that all of these bodies have apparently not raised serious concerns regarding the impact on our marine environment that the dumping of up to 10,000 tons of silt near us may have .

This is 2018 not 1820. Just because this process has happened in the past, there is no justification for it to continue in this day and age when there are other options available.

I will endeavour to persevere with this matter.

A big thank you to all of the people who have helped with information and backed me up with emails, and Teignmouth council, who unanimously voted for me to formulate a letter of objection to the MMO.

Our MP Ann Marie Morris and her office have been extremely helpful, making representations to the relevant minister Theresa Coffey, but to no avail.

If you have any concerns contact the MMO at [email protected].

Further information about the marine activities and those documents are available online via the MMO public register (https://marinelicensing. marinemanagement.org.uk/mmofox5/fox/live/MMO PUBLIC REGISTER.

Please search for ref MLA/2016/00372 .