Essex Coast RAMS
We are part of a county-wide project to raise awareness of protected birds along the Essex coastline.
We have developed the Essex Coast Recreational Disturbance Avoidance and Mitigation Strategy (Essex RAMS) in partnership with Natural England and 11 other councils in Essex.
The strategy sets out a long-term strategic approach to lessen the impact of local housing development on protected birds along the Essex coast.
The Essex RAMS aims to prevent bird and habitat disturbance from recreational activities. It does this through a series of mitigation measures, which encourage all coastal visitors to enjoy their visits responsibly.
Revised RAMS strategy and associated tariff adopted (July 2026)
We adopted a revised Essex Coast Recreational Disturbance Avoidance and Mitigation Strategy (RAMS) 2026 at a Cabinet meeting on 14 July 2026.
This replaces the original strategy adopted in 2020 and responds to updated visitor surveys, increased housing growth across Essex and Natural England's requirement to ensure mitigation is funded and delivered for the lifetime of development.
We will introduce a new RAMS tariff of £476 per net additional dwelling (or equivalent qualifying development), index linked annually, in line with the following transitional arrangements:
For planning applications submitted between 1 April 2026 and 31 July 2026, the tariff applicable is the current tariff of £175.55
Where planning applications are still awaiting final determination on 31 July 2026, the tariff applicable is the rate in force at the time of submission
Where permission is granted at appeal and RAMS has not been paid, the tariff applicable is the rate in force on the date of the appeal being allowed
For planning applications submitted on or after 1 August 2026, the new RAMS tariff of £476 applies
We have revoked the previous Essex Coast RAMS Supplementary Planning Document (SPD), because it no longer reflects the updated strategy and tariff.
You can view the revocation notice.
We will replace the SPD in due course with a new Technical Advice Note (TAN), providing up-to-date guidance on implementation of the revised RAMS.
Developer contributions
We fund the mitigation measures using payments from developers. Developers will need to pay a tariff if their new development is within a ‘Zone of Influence’ around a designated site. The strategy shows that almost all of our administrative area falls within the Zones of Influence.
We will collect the money via planning obligations that we secure using:
S106 agreements
unilateral undertakings
up-front payments
The easiest and cheapest way to pay is to make an up-front payment online before we issue planning permission. This ensures we can grant permission without delay. We will refund the payment if the development doesn't go ahead.
If you do not want to make an upfront payment, you will need to secure the obligation with a signed S106 agreement or unilateral undertaking. We will not be able to decide your application without this. You will then need to pay the contribution when you start work.
Further information
For more information about the scheme, you can:
visit Bird Aware Essex Coast
download the summary note