Long Term Forest Plans: EIR release

Information requested

Do you have a copy of the following on record? Would you be able to tell me where I can find it online/ or attach it to an email?

Long Term Forest Plan (LTFP) 3879450 Approved Jan 2016
Glenfeshie – Existing woodland totalling 1307.71ha.
Tolvah – Existing woodland totalling 393.25ha.
Killiehuntly - Existing woodland totalling 775.26ha.
Coire Fhearnasdail (17FGS14381-001) - New woodland with 369ha established in 2018/19.
Allt Bhran (18FGS29759-003) - New woodland with 438ha established in 2019/21.
Montane – Ongoing expansion of woodland, as of 2021 109.29ha established.
Long Term Forest Plan (LTFP) 19FGS45123-001 Approved 2021
Gaick, Lynaberack, Tromie, Old Milton & Ruthven - existing woodland totalling 1230.68 ha

Do you have a copy of the EIA for Glenfeshie SSSI?

Response

As the information you have requested is ‘environmental information’ for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because an exception under regulation 10(4)(a (Information not held at time of request) of the EIRs applies to some of the information you have requested, as follows:

• Montane – Ongoing expansion of woodland, as of 2021 109.29ha established.

We are not able to identify the particular forestry project to which you refer from the information you have provided.

If you wish to make a further information request providing a reference number, grid reference or other information regarding this project, then we may be able to determine if we hold any documentation in relation to it.

• Do you have a copy of the EIA for Glenfeshie SSSI?

We are not aware of any application for EIA consent for a forestry project within this SSSI having been made under either the 1999 or 2017 Forestry EIA Regulations.

Otherwise, we are providing information on the remaining Long Term Forest Plans and woodland creation applications as follows:

3879450 – Glenfeshie LTFP comprising 3 estates:

• Glenfeshie;
• Tolvah; and
• Killiehuntly

Please note that we did not hold a digital copy of this LTFP at the time of your request, so the hard copy we held has been scanned. The associated maps were of scale larger than our scanner could accommodate so each map is presented over four pages.

Also included is an amendment to the approved LTFP, received late 2023 and approved early 2024. The purpose of the amendment to the approved LTFP was to enable the clearance of areas of wind damaged trees resulting from a winter storm in 2023, which were outwith the boundaries of the approved felling coupes.

17FGS14381 – Coire Fhearnasdail

Woodland creation application approved in June 2017, comprising 316.8ha using four FGS options:

• Diverse conifer;
• Native upland birch;
• Native broadleaves; and
• Native Scots pine.

Application documents required for approval including associated surveys and maps.

18FGS29759 – Allt Bhran

Woodland creation application approved in September 2018, comprising 392.3ha using three FGS options:

• Native upland birch;
• Native broadleaves; and
• Native Scots pine.

Application documents required for approval including associated surveys and maps.

19FGS45123 – Gaick, Lynaberack, and Tromie LTFP
Approved LTFP with associated maps and surveys.

Due to the volume of documentation involved, copies of these documents will be emailed to you separately from this response.

Regarding these documents:

• An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal data relating to a third party) applies to some of the information you have requested. This information has been redacted from the supplied documentation.
• An exception under regulation 10(5)(g) of the EIRs (protection of the environment) applies to some of the information requested because it would make public the locations of nesting / breeding sites of protected species. This information is contained within the Fauna Report and associated maps for 17FGS14381 – Coire Fhearnasdail. Information redacted under this exception has been marked accordingly (“protection of the environment”) in the supplied documentation. 

For further detail on the application of these exceptions, please see Annex A below.

ANNEX A

REASONS FOR NOT PROVIDING INFORMATION

Personal data relating to third party

An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some the information requested because it is personal data of a third party and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. This exception is not subject to the ‘public interest test’, so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception.

Protection of the environment to which the information relates

An exception under regulation 10(5)(g) of the EIRs (protection of the environment) applies to some of the information requested because it would make public the locations of nesting and breeding sites of species protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and other protected species designations.

This exception is subject to the ‘public interest test’. In this instance we consider that while there may be a public interest in disclosing this information as it may contribute to the transparency of decision making on the application in question, this interest is outweighed by the public interest arising from the protection of these protected species from the potential risk that would arise from publishing their exact nesting and breeding locations, for example from disturbance, egg collection, nest / holt destruction, etc.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.