Marine conservation measures ‘like fiddling while Rome burns’
Sites recommended but not yet designated in Yorkshire cover the rocky shores at Runswick Bay, Scarborough and Filey Brigg, to an area called Holderness Offshore, eight miles off the Holderness coast.
They include areas that are important for fish to spawn and where seabirds, seals and porpoises can feed.
“Castle ground” is the smallest site at just 1.4 square miles, running along the coastline from Filey Brigg in the south to the north of Scarborough.
Around half the English population of purple sandpiper are found within the site.
So far the process has taken three years and according to campaigners cost between £8m and £9m.