Ministers to decide Loch Long fish farm appeal
An appeal against the rejection of a plan to build a fish farm in a national park will now be decided by Scottish ministers, rather than a reporter.
Loch Long Salmon (LLS) applied to build Scotland’s first semi-closed fish farm at Loch Long near Beinn Reithe. LLS claims the technology, which surrounds the net with an “impermeable membrane”, “removes the threat of sea lice and attacks by seals”.
The plan, for four circular 50m pens, attracted 192 objections and 67 supporters. Last October, Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park board voted 10 to one to reject it. LLS then appealed to the Scottish Government’s Planning and Environmental Appeals Division (DPEA).
Comments are now closed, the DPEA says. The Oban Times counted four people supporting the fish farm, mostly from Arrochar, and 61 people objecting. Half the objectors said they were local to Loch Long and Loch Goil, while others gave no address, or lived further afield.
Listing Loch Goil Community Council’s objections, secretary Peter M Booth said: “A vote was taken where 70 per cent of voters objected to the proposed fish farm.
“There are no social or environmental benefits. In reality the opposite is likely to be true. Public economic benefits locally will likely be slight, the private benefits are huge to LLS at the expense of biodiversity, public enjoyment and detrimental visual impact of the area.”
Objecting on behalf of Ardentinny Community Council, convener Dr John Brint said: “The setting up of a commercial fish farm with questionable technical capabilities in a National Park is completely as odds with an area of natural scenic beauty, and contrary to the logic of what a National Park should provide for with respect to visitors and the community living in it.”
Other objectors include Scottish Green MSPs Ariane Burgess (Highlands and Islands) and Ross Greer (West Scotland), and Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie MSP (Dumbarton).
In its objection, Argyll District Salmon Fishery Board said: “The applicant has made a separate planning application for a similar farm in Loch Linnhe, an established fish farming area, which we feel is a more appropriate site for this technology to be tested.”
In support, Arrochar, Tarbet and Ardlui Community Council convener Ronald Ross said: “Supported by the majority of local residents, the need for full, well-paid employment in a much forgotten area of Argyll and Bute is paramount in our vision to regenerate our deprived area.
“The provision of 12 jobs by LLS will we hope keep 12 homes habited full time and free from the clutches of investors, who bring very little to our community.”
Further supporting letters came from Argyll and Bute Council’s policy lead for climate change and environmental services, Councillor Ross Moreland (Lib Dem, Dunoon), and the shadow lead for community planning, Councillor Gordon Blair (SNP, Cowal).
Fellow supporters from the SNP are Argyll and Bute’s MP Brendan O’Hara and MSP Jenni Minto, the new minister for public health, as well as the new cabinet secretary for constitution, external affairs and culture Angus Robertson (Edinburgh Central), and Fergus Ewing (Inverness and Nairn).
They are joined by Scottish Conservative MSPs Donald Cameron (Highlands and Islands), Pam Gosal (West Scotland), and Finlay Carson (Galloway and West Dumfries), convener of the rural affairs, islands and natural environment committee.
In March Scottish ministers decided they would determine the case, instead of a reporter appointed by them, “as the proposed semi-closed farming system is a new technology for Scotland that raises issues of national significance in view of its potential impact on Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park”.
‘The applicant has made a separate application for a similar farm in Loch Linnhe, an established fish farm area, which we feel is a more appropriate site for this technology to be tested.’