Marine planning zones - proposals to extend to 12 nautical miles: impact assessments

Fairer Scotland Duty (FSD) Assessment

Assessment not required declaration

Policy title: Proposals to extend marine planning zones out to 12 nautical miles

Directorate: Marine Directorate

Portfolio: Marine Economy and Communities

Team: Aquaculture Development and Regulatory Review

Policy lead responsible for taking the decision: Joe Triscott

Rationale for decision

The objective of the proposal is to close an existing gap in marine fish farming planning regulations, by extending marine planning zones to 12 nautical miles.

At present, any proposed marine fish or shellfish farm sited between 0-12 nautical miles from Scotland’s coast requires planning permission, but current marine planning zones (which give local authority planners the power to consider such applications) only cover the area between 0-3 nautical miles.

When the marine planning zones were first designated in 2007, it was considered that it was highly unlikely that applications for planning permissions between 3-12 nautical miles would be lodged in the near future. It was therefore noted in Planning Circular 1/2007 that the Scottish Executive would monitor the situation with further work envisaged during 2007-8 to extend the marine planning zones out to 12 nautical miles. This work was not undertaken and as such there remains a legislative gap.

Extension of the marine planning zones would be carried out by the means of an affirmative Scottish Statutory Instrument (SSI) to amend The Town and Country Planning (Marine Fish Farming) (Scotland) Order 2007

It is considered the proposal does not represent a new strategic direction, but is an extension of existing planning powers out to 12 nautical miles, which has previously been indicated as an intention by Scottish Government. The provisions of the proposal should not have any direct implications for inequalities arising from socio-economic disadvantage. As such a Fairer Scotland Duty Assessment is not required.

I confirm that the decision to not carry out a Fairer Scotland assessment has been authorised by:

Malcolm Pentland - Deputy Director and Head of the Marine Economy and Communities Portfolio, Marine Directorate

29 August 2024