Quarry site for Marine Harvest feed plant
A QUARRY at Kyleakin, on Skye, is the preferred site for Marine Harvest Scotland’s new £80 million fish feed plant which will create 55 full time, permanent jobs.
The announcement was made by the company after consideration of a number of different sites on the west coast.
The site, known as Altanavaig quarry, is more than large enough to accommodate the plant.
Ben Hadfield, chief operating officer feed for Marine Harvest globally and managing director of Marine Harvest Scotland, said: ‘We are delighted to have found a site which sits at the heart of our operations – one that is already an industrial site but which has not been fully utilised for some time.
‘We would like to have the chance to bring it back to life and provide well paid jobs, as well as taking the opportunity to produce our feed in the most sustainable way.
‘We hope this will be a major boost for the local economy and we are keen to start discussions with the local community and hear their views about our proposals.’
Marine Harvest Scotland said in January it was looking for a site to accommodate its new plant, which will produce feed for its Scottish farms, as well as for Ireland, Norway and the Faroes.
The company hopes to replicate the success of a similar plant in Norway, which has provided a welcome boost to the local economy by providing jobs directly, as well as generating employment for local contractors and suppliers.
The company will now start consultation with the local community as part of the planning application process. It plans to hold public meetings in Kyleakin and Kyle on April 18 and 19 respectively to get feedback.
Steve Bracken, the company’s business support manager, said they were delighted with the response so far.
‘We’ve had a number of calls already from potential contractors and suppliers wanting to know how they can get involved...it’s very encouraging.’
Construction of the plant will take between a year and 18 months and Marine Harvest believes it could be up and running as early as 2018, depending on the planning process.