Management Guidelines & Action Programme

In September 1999 the Moray Firth Partnership launched a ground-breaking new document titled 'Management Guidelines and an Action Programme for the Moray Firth'. Pulling together a wealth of valuable material produced by MFP members, the Management Guidelines lay out foundations on which the Partnership believes management of the Moray Firth should be guided. The Action Programme is a timed set of tasks to help achieve the Guidelines. The Moray Firth Management Guidelines and Action Programme were developed through a collaborative process, involving a range of Topic Groups, conferences, workshops and widespread public consultation. Many organisations and individuals took part in the process.

In the words of former Moray Firth Partnership Chairman, Professor David Mackay:

"The Moray Firth Partnership has produced a document which is unusual for a corporate body with so many interests represented. It is bold, aspirational and idealistic. It challenges organisations and individuals to set aside their prejudices, their jealousies in regard to their responsibilities, and their defensiveness against criticism from outsiders. It invites all of us to open up, to listen attentively to the opinions of others and to be prepared to accommodate and incorporate their views into our thinking. It is ambitious to the point where some readers will believe it to be unrealistic and includes suggestions which in others will produce an over my dead body reaction. For these and other reasons, not least being the wealth of talent and expertise that has contributed to its formation, I commend it to you as a document that demands your attention. It breaks new ground, it breaches old boundaries, and it may presage a new and rewarding approach to managing our total environment." 

The Management Guidelines and Action Programme are applicable at several levels; regional (the whole Moray Firth), area (sub-sections of the Moray Firth eg Local Authority Boundaries) and local (individual communities). The local level is particularly important as this is where policies and plans meet the real world. The MFP runs a community grants scheme to support community groups in implementation of actions identified within the Management Guidelines and Action Programme, at a local level.

The Moray Firth Partnership has been co-ordinating implementation of the Action Programme since its launch in 1999. With the help of an Implementation Officer employed between August 2000 - June 2004, the Partnership achieved steady progress with a high proportion of actions implemented each year (with over 70% of actions being progressed in the first year).

The Management Guidelines and Action Programme document can be viewed by clicking on the following links.

Cover -- Management Guidelines and Action Programme
Pages i-6 -- Forward, Contents and Introduction
Pages 7-13 -- What Happens Now, The Guidelines, The Action Programme
Pages 14-23 -- Guidelines 1 - 5
Pages 24-33 -- Guidelines 6 - 9
Pages 34-43 -- Guidelines 10 - 14
Pages 44-55 -- Guidelines 15 - 20
Pages 56-63 -- Partnership Projects, Appendix 1
Pages 64-71 -- Appendix 2,3,4, Acknowledgements

For further information, please contact the Moray Firth Partnership at the usual address or e-mail to