Important changes to the granting of fish farming consents

On 7 March 2007 the Scottish Parliament approved an order giving planning authorities statutory planning powers for aquaculture developments in marine waters.

The Town and Country Planning (Marine Fish Farming) (Scotland) Order 2007 replaced the previous 'interim scheme' which had been in operation since the late 1990s. There have also been changes in Orkney and Shetland where applications for fish farms are now being made under the new scheme.

Applications for new sites, or modifications to existing ones, should now be made to the relevant planning department, including the payment of a planning fee based on the scale of development. Consultations are a fundamental part of the scheme, while the environmental impact assessment regulations continue to apply.

If a site is approved then there will be a presumption that the planning consent will be granted without time limit, an important change to the current system where finfish sites go through a renewal process every fifteen years.

Applications made under the previous scheme, but where a decision was not made by 1 April 2007, will be considered under that scheme through to a conclusion. A cut-off date of 1 April 2010 was set to consider these applications and any applications still with us on that date were deemed to have lapsed.

Existing fish farms will be given permanent planning permission once they have been through a review process and they are found to be compliant. The review will primarily be to ensure that a farm has been properly assessed against environmental and nature conservation regulations. This process will be handled by the Scottish Executive directly and further details will be issued at an appropriate stage.

An important point about the new scheme is that the planning permission will be attached to the area of foreshore / seabed in question and not a specific company. Where the foreshore / seabed is Crown owned then the right to occupy the site will be by means of a lease from ourselves as landowner.

We welcomed the new legislation as it allows us to concentrate on helping support sustainable development of the aquaculture industry through our research and development projects, by highlighting best practice through The Crown Estate Scottish Marine Aquaculture Awards and supporting the Scottish Government's strategic objectives through, for example, our practical support for the tri-partite working group project manager.