Engagement with planning authority tops task list for Loch Long Salmon
National park board must approve key aspects of semi-closed fish farm
Loch Long Salmon has said engagement with Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park Authority and the local community is its immediate priority following news that Scottish Government ministers granted it permission for Scotland’s first semi-closed containment salmon farm.
The ministers overturned the Authority’s 2022 refusal for the farm at Beinn Reithe, Loch Long, on appeal. The ministers' decision was also contrary to a recommendation by planning reporter David Liddell, who advised ministers to dismiss the appeal after he had considered written representations, and carried out hearing sessions and site visits.
In a 23-page decision notice, the Scottish ministers said they agree with the reporter that the conclusion is finely balanced, and that there are a number of matters on which the decision-maker might reasonably reach a different judgement or place different weight than the reporter.
35 conditions
The decision notice includes 35 conditions that must be met by Loch Long Salmon (LLS), many of which requiring approval by the National Park Authority. These include a plan for decommissioning and restoration of the site at the end of its life; a farm and environmental management plan; full and final details of the semi-closed containment system, building, structures and equipment details; a landscaping plan; road/access track details; a travel management plan; cycle parking facilities; a public access/recreational access management plan; a programme of archaeological works; a lighting management plan; water supply; a construction management plan; and a financial guarantee to cover all site restoration.
LLS project director Mark Shotter told Fish Farming Expert that the company will now engage with the Park Authority and the community to work towards satisfying the most immediate planning conditions.
He added that almost all of the conditions are ones which Loch Long Salmon offered at either the application or appeal phases.
Asked when LLS hoped that it might start work on the site, he said: “The immediate priority is to work through the conditions with the National Park Authority. After further engagement with the Park and local communities, Loch Long Salmon will produce a programme for the development of the site, as there is still some work to go before we are farming.”
'Technology has matured'
The planning application for Beinn Reithe was based on using Certus pens from Norwegian supplier Fiizk, but the near-34-month gap between the Park Authority’s refusal and the decision notice issued yesterday may have given LLS more options. Fiizk has developed a more advanced model, Protectus, and there are other options, such as the pens produced by Akvafuture, which jointly won the Fish Welfare Award at the Aqua Nor trade show in Trondheim, Norway, last week.
“The technology has matured further and to our benefit,” said Shotter. “LLS will review the design to ensure that the most up-to-date technology can be deployed whilst remaining within the parameters considered by the EIA (environmental impact assessment) report. A condition of the planning application requires a final design to be submitted to the Park Authority for review against the EIA prior to deployment.”
'Finely balanced'
In a media statement issued yesterday, Heather Reid, convener of the National Park Authority, said when board members refused the application in November 2022, they had cited significant landscape, seascape, and visual issues of the proposed development and that the risk of an escape of farmed fish could impact on the fragile wild salmon population.
“We continue to stand by those reasons for refusal and note that the Scottish Government-appointed reporter also recommended to ministers that the appeal should be dismissed on some of these grounds. In addition, while ministers have not accepted the reporter’s recommendation, this was acknowledged as a finely balanced decision,” said Reid.
“We note also that prior to planning permission being granted, the developer will be required to adhere to a substantial number of conditions that have been attached to this decision. These conditions will help ensure there are the significant environmental and operational safeguards in place to mitigate – as far as possible – the impacts of the development on the nationally important landscape.
“We are disappointed by the news that this appeal has been allowed, however the right of appeal is an important part of the planning process, and we respect that process despite the outcome in this case.”
