DEVELOPERS behind a rejected bid to create a new salmon farm near Arrochar have announced plans to appeal the decision.
Loch Long Salmon confirmed today that they have submitted an appeal for their proposed Beinn Reithe project.
They will argue that the rejection of the plan in October 2022 by the Board of Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park was “fundamentally flawed and based on fear and a misunderstanding” of their aquaculture technology.
The plan envisions creating what is known as a ‘semi-closed containment’ salmon farm on Loch Long.
This means that, below the waterline, the net is surrounded by an impermeable membrane with water drawn up and circulated from deeper in the loch.
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Loch Long Salmon stated that this removes the threat of sea lice and attacks by seals, meaning it would not use sea lice treatments or acoustic devices that can harm dolphins or other cetaceans.
Similar scheme have already been developed, trialled, and commercially adopted in Norway and Canada.
The project had the backing of Arrochar, Tarbet and Ardlui Community Council as well as national bodies including SEPA and NatureScot.
It was also supported by a number of SNP and Conservative politicians, including the SNP’s Angus Robertson, Fergus Ewing, and Argyll & Bute MP Brendan O’Hara, and the Conservative MSPs Pam Gosal and Donald Cameron.
The Scottish Government has said it believes the project is of “national significance”.
Loch Long Salmon said its project would deliver high-skilled jobs and “demonstrate the commercial viability of this farming system”.
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Stewart Hawthorn, managing director of Loch Long Salmon, said: “We believe the National Park’s decision to prevent this proven, transformative technology being brought to Scotland for the first time was based on fear and a lack of knowledge and understanding.
“The National Park has no experience of handling this kind of application and, rather than listening to experts such as NatureScot, SEPA and Forestry & Land Scotland, who all said the project could go ahead, they based their view on a misunderstanding that our plans were the same as existing open net salmon farms.
“This is fundamentally flawed.
“Through the appeal process, we are committed to demonstrating that we can bring positive change to Scotland, radically improve the environmental performance of salmon farming and secure jobs in rural areas.
“We carefully sited and designed the farm with the full collaboration of the Park’s planning team and, as a result, the farm can’t even be seen from more than 99 per cent of the Park.
“Officers also used concerns regarding theoretical impacts on a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) more than 55km [34 miles] away from the development in justifying the decision to refuse the application.
“This was contrary to the expert advice from NatureScot who confirmed the project could safely proceed.”
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Loch Long Salmon is a joint venture between Simply Blue Aquaculture, Trimara Services and Golden Acre Foods.
A spokesman for Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park Authority said: “The decision by the National Park Authority Board to refuse a planning application for a marine fish farm at Loch Long was taken following a rigorous process that considered responses from statutory consultees and other external bodies, as well as the advice of our own specialist advisors and views from local communities.
“At a public hearing in Arrochar, Board Members heard representations from the applicant and from speakers both in support of and in objection to the proposal. Board Members also attended a site visit to better understand the landscape in which the proposed development would be sited.
“When a decision is taken by the National Park Authority Board or Planning and Access Committee to refuse an application, the applicant has the right to appeal that decision to the Scottish Government Planning and Environmental Appeals Division. An appeal was submitted for this application on 3rd February 2023."
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