The Crown Estate – 2010 Shellfish Rent Review Announcement
The Crown Estate announced the review of rent and terms and conditions of the lease for farmed shellfish cultivation in March of last year, and the appointment of Stephen Pollock of James Barr Ltd, assisted by David Scott to conduct the review in consultation with The Crown Estate and the shellfish farming industry.
James Barr’s work is now concluded following submission of their 2010 shellfish rent review report to The Crown Estate.
We have considered the report’s content carefully and find the recommendations to be well founded with appropriate recognition of both the interests of the shellfish farming industry and The Crown Estate.
The Crown Estate is minded to accept the report’s recommendations, and we therefore propose to adopt them into a revised form of shellfish farm lease from 1 January 2010.
A summary of these proposals is available below together with an analysis of the revised rent charges and a copy of the rent review report.
If you have any material comments on the revised rent and terms proposed please forward them to me for consideration by Friday 20 November, at any of the above contacts.
The rent review documents are available by following the links:
Shellfish Production
The industry is predominated by small scale businesses, providing employment opportunities in remote locations throughout the west coast and Outer Isles of Scotland. The cultivation methods employed are labour intensive and the stock held in the water is prone to many risks, often resulting in significant losses.
Production of mussels farmed in Scotland has increased steadily, with a recent sharp rise in Shetland.
Seabed rentals for shellfish are formula-based, linked to the amount of equipment on site. The majority of farms pay a relatively small amount which reflects the nature of the industry, largely comprised of small scale farms.
Important Changes to the Granting of Fish Farming Consents
On 7 March 2007 an order was approved by the Scottish Parliament that will give planning authorities statutory planning powers for aquaculture developments in marine waters.
The Town and Country Planning (Marine Fish Farming) (Scotland) Order 2007 came into force on 1 April 2007 and replaced the previous 'interim scheme' which had been in operation since the late 1990s. There were changes in Orkney and Shetland too where applications for fish farms are now being made under the new scheme rather than the current works licence system.
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. Wide consultation will take place and the environmental impact assessment regulations will 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 will be set to consider these applications and any applications still with us on that date will be 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's primary aim will 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.
The Crown Estate Lease
An important point about the new scheme is that the planning permission will be attached to the area of foreshore / seabed in question and will not be company specific. Where the foreshore / seabed is Crown owned then the right to occupy the site will be by means of a lease from The Crown Estate as landowner.
Seabed Rent
An annual rent will continue to be charged for the lease. The rent is based on the level of authorised equipment regardless of whether the site is developed to its full capacity.
Rents are charged annually in advance on 1 January and an apportionment will be charged for the first year if the lease starts on a date other than 1 January.
The rents for shellfish farms are reviewed every five years in consultation with representatives of the shellfish industry. The current rates, from 1 January 2010, are as follows (where applicable figures rounded to the nearest pound):
| Mussel Cultivation | | | |
| | | |
| Longline length (m) | Mainland rent | Outer Isles rent | |
| Up to 600 | £135 | £122 | the minimum rent |
| Over 600 | 20.50 per metre | 18.45p per metre | |
| | | |
| Scallop Cultivation | | | |
| | | |
| Longline length (m) | Mainland rent | Outer Isles rent | |
| Up to 1,800 | £115 | £104 | the minimum rent |
| Over 1,800 | 5.5p per metre | 4.95p per metre | |
| | | |
| Oyster Cultivation | | | |
| Trestle length (m) | Mainland rent | Outer Isles rent | |
| Up to 400 | £115 | £104 | the minimum rent |
| Over 400 | 26.5p per metre | 23.85p per metre | |
Further Information
Any questions relating to the current application and consultation process should be directed to:
Alex Adrian
Offshore Operations Manager (Scotland)
The Crown Estate
6 Bell's Brae
Edinburgh
EH4 3BJ
telephone 0131 260 6076
fax 0131 260 6090
email Enquiries
For further information on our Scottish holdings, please visit our Scotland page.
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