Shortly after the stricken container ship MSC Napoli beached off the Devon and Dorset  World Heritage coast at Branscombe, I made a pledge as Leader of Devon County Council  that a local public inquiry would be held into the incident should the Government decide  not to do so.

 The Minister of State for Transport subsequently indicated that the Government considers  that a public inquiry would be inappropriate and that the incident is being investigated by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB).

I am therefore fulfilling the commitment I gave to hold a local public inquiry and delighted to have the support of East Devon District and Dorset County Councils. We will in due course announce the appointment of an independent chairman and a committee of inquiry to hold public hearings and prepare a report on what lessons can be learned from the fate of the MSC Napoli and how best to protect our marine environment and coastal communities.

As an important first step we are launching an extended period of preliminary evidence gathering. Local authorities, Government departments and agencies, businesses and landowners, communities, their elected representatives, environmental and conservation bodies, the general public and any interested party are all invited to contribute their views. This will help ensure that experiences and recollections of events are captured on record whilst still relatively fresh in the memory.

This booklet contains information about the terms of reference for the inquiry and how you can contribute evidence to it.

It is true that a local inquiry does not have the force of law behind it and participation is therefore voluntary. It will of course be a matter for Government, partner agencies and other institutions to determine the degree to which they engage with such an inquiry and, therefore, ultimately the capacity of an inquiry to examine the facts of the matter. That said, there is a positive precedence in the shape of the 2001 Devon Foot and Mouth Inquiry organised by Devon County Council in which a wide range of public agencies, including the then Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, participated by providing written submissions and in many cases attended the public hearings. Many of the findings contained in the official report of the Inquiry by Prof Ian Mercer CBE were also adopted in national and local contingency planning.

The County Council therefore believes that a local public inquiry can be of assistance with the overall process of investigation and learning which would help all the relevant agencies with future contingency planning, locally and nationally, to minimise the potential for an incident similar to the Napoli occurring. I hope that all those who were and continue to be involved in or affected by this incident will freely contribute their experience and expertise to the inquiry so that all can benefit from this sharing of information and insights.

The brave, intensive and dedicated hard work of the salvage crews in those early days and months to remove first the oil and then cargo has to be acknowledged. And we must remember those who are continuing to work tirelessly to clean up and keep the beaches clean, often not returning home for weeks on end.

However, the wider purpose of this Inquiry is to look in hindsight at the incident to see what lessons can be drawn. The recent “near-miss” with the cargo ship MV Ice Prince illustrates the continuing risks posed to our coastlines and I hope the inquiry will help ensure that every precaution is taken to protect our marine, coastal and estuarine environments, as well as identify clearly who can exercise the necessary powers to minimise adverse effects on the communities upon which such events have an impact.

Councillor Brian Greenslade,
Leader of Devon County Council.
County Hall, Exeter, February 25, 2008