Instructions for objecting to the approval of CAR licenses and asking Scottish Ministers to recall them.

Status

SEPA has decided to approve CAR applications for Dawnfresh Ltd. for the Little Cumbrae, Cumbrae, and South Bute proposed fish farm sites. Having made this decision, there is a 21 day period whereby objections to this decision can be made to Scottish Ministers, asking them to ‘call in’ the decision for review.

Deadlines

In order to ask Scottish Ministers to call in the SEPA decisions to issue CAR licences for these farms, we have to do so within the 21 day limit following SEPA sending out the notices for each of these CAR approvals. Dated letters are below here.

Site            Issued    Deadline
Little Cumbrae  13th Oct  2nd Nov
Cumbrae         15th Oct  4th Nov
South Bute      18th Oct  7th Nov

If you originally Objected

Only people who originally objected to the proposed CAR licences are entitled to object and ask for the decisions to be called in by the Scottish Ministers. If you objected initially, please now write to the Scottish Ministers, notifying them of your objection to the CAR licenses and ask them to call in the decisions. See How to Object below on how to do this.

If you did not originally Object

You are able to support objections by others that request Scottish Ministers to call in the decisions, but not make one yourself. Please feel free to support our own request to call in the decision on the three CAR license approvals. See How to Support an Objection below for more details.

Buteiful Coast’s and Others Objections

In our objection letters below, as well as referencing our past(original) objections to the CAR licenses, we have highlighted that SEPA is not taking into account the impact on humans from chemicals discharged under the CAR licenses. See SEPA’s legal obligation below.

Our requests focus on SEPA’s legal duty to protect swimmers as other users of the environment. We were able to comment personally on wild swimming around Bute. If you actually have swum at or near to any of the three proposed sites, please specifically mention that fact in your emails.

As well, say how much swimming matters to you. If you have a business that brings people to the island, and those people might swim, please mention how your business might be affected.

Other groups and organisations are also objecting to these licenses being approved, and making requests to call-in the decision. View the objections from the Scottish Creel Fishermen’s Federation and the Friend of the Sound of Jura below, to see on what grounds they object to these licenses.

Other Information

We have collated information on the Sustainable Development Goals Scotland has adopted from the UN. You may wish to use this points in supporting an objection to Scottish Ministers

How to Object

To object to a CAR license approval, you must notify the Scottish Ministers that you do object, and copy the objection notification to SEPA. See Contact Details below for postal and email addresses.

You must use in the subject of the email, or make obvious in written correspondence the SEPA reference to the CAR application you are objecting to. See the CAR References below for these.

If you have a reference code to your objection during the proposal stage, likely in the form ANON-XXXX-XXXX-X, include this in your objection notification. If not, include any relevant details that will point them towards your previous submission.

How to Support an Objection

To support an objection to the approval of a CAR license you need to do the following:

You must notify the Scottish Ministers that you support your chosen person’s objection, and copy the objection notification to SEPA. See Contact Details below for postal and email addresses.

You must use in the subject of the email, or make obvious in written correspondence the SEPA reference to the CAR application you are objecting to. See the CAR References below for these.

You can reference our objections to each CAR license approval with the following: “I support the objection made by Theresa Nelson on 2021-10-22 in regards to [CAR Reference]”.

What happens after

From SEPA:

“If you, or anyone else, submits a notification objecting to our decision within the 21-day period, the Scottish Ministers may direct us to refer the application to them so that they can make their own determination. This is known as “calling in” an application.

If a notification is sent to the Scottish Ministers and copied to SEPA within the 21 day period, our proposed decision to grant a permit will be put on hold until either:
• we receive written notice from the Scottish Ministers that they do not intend to call in
the application; or
• a period of 63 days, beginning with the date of service of this notice, has expired and
we have received no written notice from the Scottish Ministers.”

Information

References

SEPA CAR subject line references

CAR/L/1178014 – South Bute Marine Pen Fish Farm
CAR/L/1178035 – Little Cumbrae Marine Pen Fish Farm
CAR/L/1178037 – Cumbrae Marine Pen Fish Farm

Buteiful coast objection references

Theresa Nelson’s objection to CAR/L/1178014 on 2021-10-22
Theresa Nelson’s objection to CAR/L/1178035 on 2021-10-22
Theresa Nelson’s objection to CAR/L/1178037 on 2021-10-22

Contact Details

Scottish Ministers

EQCAT@gov.scot

Scottish Ministers
Scottish Government
Environment and Forestry Directorate
Environmental Quality Division, Area 1-D (North)
Victoria Quay, Edinburgh
EH6 6QQ

SEPA

registry@sepa.org.uk

FAO Head of Permitting
Scottish Environment Protection Agency
Angus Smith Building
6 Parklands Avenue
Eurocentral
Holytown
North Lanarkshire
ML1 4WQ

Part 15.(1)(c) of the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) Regulations 2011 says:

Determination of application

15.-(1) Before determining an application SEPA must-

(a) assess the risk to the water environment posed by the carrying on of the activity referred to in the application;

(b) if the application is in respect of an activity that it considers has or is likely to have a significant adverse impact on the water environment—
(i) assess the indirect effects of that impact on any other aspects of the environment likely to be significantly affected;
(ii) consider any likely adverse social and economic effects of that impact and of any indirect environmental effects identified in accordance with sub-paragraph (i); and
(iii) consider the likely environmental, social and economic benefits of the activity;

(c) assess the impact of the controlled activity on the interests of other users of the water environment;

(d) assess what steps may be taken to ensure efficient and sustainable water use;

(e) apply the requirements of the legislation referred to in Part 1 of Schedule 4, including, in particular, the provisions of Article 4 of the Directive and Article 6 of the Groundwater Directive 2006; and

(f) have regard to the provisions of the legislation referred to in Part 2 of Schedule 4.

21 Day Notice Letters

car-l-1178014-south_bute- 21 day notice letter_RedactedDownload
CAR-L-1178035_Little_Cumbrae-21-day notice letter_redactedDownload
CAR-L-1178037_Cumbrae_21 day notice letter redactedDownload

ButeifulCoast Objection Letters

request_to_call_in_SEPA_decision_re_car-l-1178014_RedactedDownload
request_to_call_in_SEPA_decision_re_car-l-1178035_RedactedDownload
request_to_call_in_SEPA_decision_re_car-l-1178037_RedactedDownload

Other Objection Letters

SCFF SG Call-in request re. Dawnfresh 26 October 2021-1_RedactedDownload
2021-sepa-friends-of-the-sound-of-jura-call-in_RedactedDownload

Other Information

Sustainable Development GoalsDownload

Original Objection Form Responses

2021-05-28-car-L-1178014-south_bute-objection_RedactedDownload
2021-05-28-car-L-1178035-little_ cumbrae-objection_RedactedDownload
2021-05-28-car-L-1178037-cumbrae-objection_RedactedDownload

CAR Application Links

https://consultation.sepa.org.uk/permits/dawnfresh-cumbrae-car-consultation/

https://consultation.sepa.org.uk/permits/dawnfresh-little-cumbrae-car-application/

https://consultation.sepa.org.uk/permits/dawnfresh-south-bute-car-consultation/