Mapping Seabed

General

Section 113(1) of the 2012 Act provides that the seabed of the territorial sea of the United Kingdom adjacent to Scotland (including land within the ebb and flow of the tide at ordinary spring tides), falls within the definition of "land" for the purposes of registration in the land register. The territorial sea limit extends 12 nautical miles from the coast. The Keeper has introduced an additional single operational area for registration of seabed plots. Title numbers and cadastral units allocated to subjects registered in this operational area will be prefixed with SEA.

The conditions of registration state at section 23(1)(c) that the deed should sufficiently describe the plot to enable the Keeper to delineate the boundaries on the cadastral map. Therefore, as with any other plot of land, applications to register areas of seabed, or other rights in the sea, such as salmon fishing rights or rights to gather naturally occurring oysters and mussels, require to be delineated on the cadastral map.

However, with SEA applications, the task of accurately representing the position and boundaries of the plot on the cadastral map can be difficult, since many seabed plots will be located a distance from the coast where there is no OS detail. Special requirements are therefore in place for such applications.

Additional seabed mapping requirements & OSGB36 coordinates

Regulation 8 of the Land Register Rules etc. (Scotland) Regulations 2014, sets out that there are two additional requirements that must be met when an application is submitted to register a seabed plot that falls wholly within the sea or tidal waters (including sea lochs, estuaries, tidal rivers and bays):

• the deed must contain a description of the plot of land based on the British national coordinate system: OSGB 1936 - British National Grid (ESPG:27700), also known as OSGB36 for short; and

• the deed must contain a location plan identifying the position of the seabed plot in relation to the coast of Scotland.

All OS mapping in Great Britain uses the OSGB36 National Grid coordinate reference system, and it is a widely accepted industry standard. The coordinate system is linked to a country-wide triangulation network that includes thousands of known points including the traditional white trig pillars that can be found on many hills. 

Full details on what is required in an application to describe a seabed plot can be read in guidance page Acceptable Seabed Plot Descriptions.

The use of coordinates is a requirement even where:

• the seabed plot is located in close proximity to, or adjoining, the coast, or

• the seabed plot adjoins another defined feature on the OS Map, such as a pier or jetty, or

• the plot includes, or is wholly comprised of, a defined feature on the OS Map, such as a pier or jetty, but the plot lies wholly below the Mean Low Water Springs (MLWS).

Since the use of coordinate data will effectively determine the location and extent of the seabed plot for mapping purposes, the deed plan only needs to identify the location of the plot relative to the coastline of Scotland. For this reason, it is acceptable for the deed or location plan to be at a smaller scale than that specified in the deed plan criteria, provided the plot is described sufficiently by coordinates.

Plans and legal officers - responsibilities for coordinates

It is a requirement that the OSGB36 coordinates are disclosed in the property section of the seabed title sheet, and a Schedule of Coordinates has been added to the LRS for this purpose.

• It is the responsibility of the legal settler to add the schedule of coordinates to the title sheet.
  
  

• The plans settler should add appropriate notes to the title workdesk to inform the legal settler that the plot has been mapped using OSGB36 coordinate information, and any other necessary explanation.

• Where a list of coordinates has been included as part of the digital data provided by the applicant, the plans settler should transfer this data into an excel spreadsheet (see section below on for use by the legal settler where possible. 

• The deed inducing registration of the seabed plot may include coordinates for the extent of the plot and for additional or ancillary rights/burdens. Only the coordinates for the extent of the plot are required in the property section, and therefore the plans officer should extract these from the deed and provide only the relevant coordinates for the legal settler.

Cadastral unit split - separating land and seabed

It is normal practice for the Keeper to divide or split a cadastral unit where the plot being registered comprises both seabed and land or foreshore, i.e. where parts of the plot are located above and below the Mean Low Water Springs (MLWS). It is unlikely to be clear at intake that a cadastral unit split may be appropriate, therefore the decision to split a cadastral unit will be considered at plans settle stage. The plans officer should initially check the extent of the plot against the OS map and establish if:

• the whole plot lies below the MLWS - the whole plot should be registered in the county of SEA;

• the whole plot lies above the MLWS (land or foreshore) - the whole plot should be registered in the appropriate landward registration county; or

• the plot lies partly above and partly below the MLWS (land or foreshore, and seabed) - consideration should be given to splitting the application into separate cadastral units and title sheets in the county of SEA and the appropriate landwards registration county.

Where the plot to be registered comprises areas above and below the MLWS, and the plans officer considers that a cadastral unit split may be necessary, they should refer the application to a senior caseworker who will make the decision on whether splitting the cadastral unit is appropriate or not. Alternatively, if the plot does not comprise areas above and below the MLWS but has been taken on against the wrong county (for example, the plot is actually foreshore rather than seabed but has been taken on in the county of SEA), the authorisation of a senior caseworker will be needed so the application can be cancelled and recreated in the correct county.  

Splitting the title will not be appropriate in all circumstances however:

• Where the plot straddles both seabed and land or foreshore, and these areas are occupied by a permanent feature, such as a jetty or pier, a cadastral unit split is not appropriate.

• Where the plot comprises one or more areas of seabed and land or foreshore, which on their own are very small or fragmented, it may not be practical or expedient to split the areas into separate cadastral units.

If the decision of the senior caseworker is that the application is to be split, the plans officer will then need to arrange for a second application to be created. This can be done by completing the L32 Intake Create Instructions form that can be found in the LRS and passing to an Intake officer. When completing the L32, remember that the application types of both applications should be the same; for example, if the original application is an FR, then the additional application will normally be an FR too. The registration date of the additional application will be the same as the registration date of the original application. And no fee is charged to the applicant for the additional application as the splitting of the title is an admin process decided upon by the Keeper.

When the applications are returned from Intake, the plans officer should ensure that the two applications are processed together, and that movement notes are added to the LRS, for example, "Travelling with 24SEAxxxx". When mapping the two applications, the cadastral units will be split at the MLWS, resulting in the seabed part being registered in the county of SEA, and the land and/or foreshore part being registered in the appropriate land county. Each part will have a separate cadastral unit and title sheet, and the property section descriptions should reflect the part of the plot included in that particular title.

Key points for plans settlers

The plans registration process for registering seabed is broadly similar to that for the registration of other areas of land. In addition to the reference or references required for the extent of the plot, there may also be plans references required for rights or burdens affecting the cadastral unit. Consideration of the size and shape of the polygons should be given when choosing the most appropriate plans reference to use in the Plan Creator. However, given the additional requirements set out above relating to the provision of coordinate data, there are some significant differences in how seabed applications must be treated and processed. The key differences are set out below:

Mapping the seabed plot - using digital data

In addition to providing a list of coordinates to identify the extent of a seabed plot, the applicant may also chose to provide digital data for the extent of the plot. Provision of digital data is not, however, a legal requirement upon the applicant although it can be very useful to the Keeper. It is normally provided when the seabed application comprises large items like offshore wind farms or cable corridors, or for particularly complex shapes. If the digital data is not provided with the application, the plans officer may still consider requesting the digital data, particularly where the extent of the seabed plot comprises a large number of coordinates/complex shape.

It is likely that the majority of deeds relating to, or comprising, seabed will be granted by Crown Estate Scotland (CES).  CES have confirmed that the coordinate data can be made available in a shapefile format for any seabed deeds they grant. Therefore, if digital data has not been provided for an application being granted by CES and the plans officer feels it would be useful when mapping the seabed plot, please contact them to request the digital data.

The guidance on Digital Map Data & Digital Deed Plans should be followed when considering to use digital data.