Marine licensing and consenting: making a representation on an application

Consultation in relation to Section 36 consent

Section 36 consent

Notice of an application for a consent under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 is published by the applicant in two successive weeks in one or more local newspapers circulating in the locality to which the application relates, in the Edinburgh Gazette and in one or more national newspapers in line with requirements of The Electricity (Applications for Consent) Regulations 1990.

The notice must describe, by reference to a map, the area to which the application relates, and shall name a place within the locality where such map may be inspected.

Publication of the Environmental Impact Assessment Report (Electricity Works)

Where an application for section 36 consent is for a project (from 0-200 nautical miles (nm) from shore) which requires an Environmental Impact Assessment (they most often do), the publication requirements of The Electricity Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2017 apply.

The applicant must publish a notice on the application website (a website maintained by the developer for the purpose of making information relating to applications publicly available), in The Edinburgh Gazette and in such newspaper as is likely to come to the attention of those likely to be affected by the proposed development.

Copies of the Environmental Impact Assessment Report must be made available to the public in the place described in the published notice.

Any persons wishing to make representations on the Environmental Impact Assessment Report, or the relevant section 36 application must do so by the date stated in the notice.

Deemed planning permission for onshore aspects

On granting or varying a section 36 consent, in certain circumstances, a direction for planning permission to be deemed to be granted may be given by the Scottish Ministers (see section 57(2) of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997). In practice, correspondence relating to deemed planning permission is published alongside the section 36 consent application to which it relates. The publishing requirements of the Electricity Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2017 apply. See section above.

Section 36A declaration

Where a section 36 consent is granted for projects within the territorial sea (0 - 12nm), Scottish Ministers can make a declaration under section 36A of the Electricity Act 1989 as respects rights of navigation. Such a declaration can only be made if the applicant made an application for such a declaration when applying for section 36 consent.

A section 36A declaration can declare that the rights of navigation specified or described in it are extinguished or temporarily suspended or are subject to restrictions or conditions. The requests for a section 36A declaration are not subject to mandatory publication requirements, however, in practice, they are published alongside the section 36 consent application to which they relate. When granted, the section 36A declaration must be published to bring it, as soon as reasonably practicable, to the attention of the persons likely to be affected by it.