Venue: COLINTRAIVE VILLAGE HALL, COLINTRAIVE
Contact: Fiona McCallum Tel. No. 01546 604392
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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Blair, |
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DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST Minutes: There were no declarations of interest intimated. |
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Report by Head of Planning and Regulatory Services Additional documents:
Minutes: The Chair welcomed everyone present to the meeting and
introductions were made. He asked those
that wished to speak at the hearing to identify themselves and outlined the
procedure that would be followed during the meeting. PLANNING Richard Kerr advised that the application was for an
extension to the existing fish farm at Strone, Loch Striven. He advised that the current site consisted of
8 cages and a small feed barge. He
showed the site in the context of the Local Plan advising that it was adjacent
to a rural opportunity area and an area of panoramic quality. Mr Kerr advised that the site was currently
operated in tandem with the applicant’s existing site at Ardyne. He showed the location of the mooring area
displaying the existing cages in black and the proposed cages in red,
explaining that currently there was a ten grid unit with 8 occupied cages in
two groups separated by 2 unoccupied grid squares. He advised that the proposal was to occupy
the unoccupied grid squares and add 4 more cages to the north end of the
site. He advised that this would
displace the feed barge by 120m north.
Mr Kerr advised that the addition of these cages would double the
biomass of the site and that SEPA were content with this having already issue a
CAR licence. He showed a further slide
showing the construction of the cages and advised of the underwater lighting
that would be used. Mr Kerr told the
Committee that the feed barge was currently an unsympathetic colour and a
condition would be attached to any approval requesting that the feed barge be
painted a more sympathetic colour to its surroundings. Mr Kerr showed the Committee a number of
photographs showing the existing site from various angles and then
photomontages of the proposal and how the additional cages would sit at the end
of the existing site. Mr Kerr advised
that in terms of statutory consultees there had been no objections with the
exception of Colintraive and Glendaruel Community Council and the Clyde
Fishermen’s Association. He advised that
in terms of representations there had been 36 of support and 11 of
objection. Mr Kerr then advised of late
representations that had been received; one objection stating that a number of
supporters were employees of the Scottish Salmon Company and 2 letters of
support - Loch Fyne Oysters, Cairndow
and Innes Ross Ltd, Alloa. He advised
that the proposal did not give rise to any adverse landscape, visual, nature
conservation, wild fish, amenity or navigation concerns or prejudice sea
fishing interests; and therefore was recommended for approval subject to the
conditions and reasons as set out in the report of handling. APPLICANTS Mark Edmonds advised that the application was for an
extension to their existing site and that the social benefits that had been
outlined during the hearing in the morning applied to this application
also. He told the Committee that due to
the fact that this was a minor modification to the existing site there would be
no requirement for an environmental impact assessment but they had been advised
to consider some specific areas which he would later outline. He advised that the application had been
assessed and approved by statutory consultees, that there had been no statutory
objections and that the application had been recommended for approval by
Planning Officers. Mr Edmonds outlined
the specific areas SSC had been advised to consider as the sustainable carrying
capacity of the loch, effective treatment strategies which SEPA had been
satisfied with; independent equipment attestations and land and visual
assessments. Mr Edmonds highlighted that
the existing site had an excellent track record. He advised that staff were a mixture of both experience
and youth; that the site was established and the infrastructure already in
place in terms of a shore site; and was in an excellent location for
farming. He made reference to the fact
that there had been no seals shot on site and that there had been little
requirement for sea lice treatment. He
added that both the Strone and Ardyne sites had been classified as excellent in
SEPA’s Compliance Assessment Scheme. He
urged the Committee to support the application. CONSULTEES Michael Kaufman of Colintraive and Glendaruel Community
Council began by saying that the Community Council’s objection was to the
cumulative effects from this application and from the application for a new
site considered and approved at the hearing that morning. He made reference to the number of letters of
support and objection submitted and advised the Committee that at a recent
Community Council meeting the application had been discussed where almost 30
people had attended and had objected to the proposal. He advised that this was an important
consideration for the Committee. Mr
Kaufmann referred to the plans that had been provided for both the hearing
meetings and advised that neither map had shown both the applications and their
close proximity and questioned if it had been intentional not to show the
cumulative effect of both on the one map.
He said that the proposal would impinge on the view from the hills,
damage the loch and damage the visual amenity.
He concluded by quoting a line from the Planning Officers report which
said the planning of the two sites was indivisible. SUPPORTERS Katrina Frankitti advised that she worked for Innes Ross Ltd
which was a small rural business. She
advised that she travelled around schools and communities promoting the ‘Fish
for Health’ project and that she worked closely with the Scottish Salmon
Company. They would invite her to
accompany them to events and vice versa.
She advised that the Scottish Salmon Company do care about communities
and that she could not do what she does without the support of the industry. She asked that the Committee seriously consider
the proposal and approve the application. Stuart Simon advised that he had worked in fish farming for 6 years and that he currently resided just around the corner from Ardyne. ... view the full minutes text for item 3. |