Wyre fish farm approved by OIC

A planning application for a twelve cage fish farm off the coast of Wyre has been granted permission by the Orkney Islands Council planning committee today, following a 6-3 vote by councillors.

The application for the Gairsay Sound development, by Scottish Sea Farms Ltd, was originally refused by the committee back in March.

However, since then, scrutiny of the terms for committee’s decision found that the reasoning was based partly on planning policy from the 2004 Local Plan that specifically related to land-based, not marine, fish farm developments. Planning jurisdiction for sea-based fish farms came into effect in 2007.

As the application was for a marine fish farm, legal advice was sought from a specialist planning lawyer, who recommended that the application be referred back to the committee today, Wednesday, for a fresh determination.

This was said to be possible because a planning decision does not come into effect until the applicant is formally notified of the determination.

The meeting today heard a presentation from the applicants who spelt out the economic benefits to Orkney of the fish farm being granted permission.

The committee also heard objections from Fiona Matheson of the Orkney Fisheries Association on the impact to the local fishing industry of the development. Wyre Community Association also raised concerns.

There were 27 letters of objection and three letters of support in relation to the application.