The Highland Council’s Leader Councillor Michael Foxley underlined the Council’s commitment to major reform of the Crown Estate in Scotland when he gave evidence to the UK Government’s Treasury Sub-Committee, which is reviewing the role of Crown Estate in Scotland.

In reinforcing the Council’s written submission, Councillor Foxley told the sub-committee at Westminster that a vital concern of the Council was the need to secure major local financial community benefits (in addition to employment, training and business benefits) from marine energy development around the Highlands and Islands. In supporting the renewable energy sector in the Highlands, the Council saw huge opportunities for the development of marine renewable energy in the Pentland Firth.

To this end, the Council is now working with the Crown Estate Commissioners and its Highland and Islands local authority partners and Highlands and Islands Enterprise to agree a Memorandum of Understanding with the Commissioners.

He said: "We need to learn from the mistakes of the past to ensure that Highland and Islands communities benefit from offshore renewables. We should seek community benefits similar to those gained by the Shetland oil fund."

-- Advertisement --

He stressed the Council also wished to see conditions conducive to sustained investment in the Highlands and Islands. The Council accepted that unneccessary delays in allocating leases combined with recent reports of three-fold increases in transmission charges may increase uncertainty, particularly at the early stages of development. Clarity and stability were important prerequisites for potential developers of marine energy.

He added: "A further concern is that marine renewable energy development takes place in a sustainable manner that is fully integrated with the marine spatial planning process at a national and local level. The importance of appropriate consultation as part of this process is obvious. Highland Council wishes to see greater efforts to fully integrate the role of the Crown Estate Commissioners with the marine planning process at national and local level in Scotland. This implies a need for greater integration with Marine Scotland, which will shortly have responsibility for marine planning and licensing, with the passage of the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010."

Councillor Foxley told the sub-committee the Council was a leading force in commissioning a report entitled "The Crown Estate in Scotland – New Opportunities for Public Benefits", because of a longstanding dissatisfaction with the Crown Estate in Scotland in terms of dealing with fish farming and harbour and port developments. It was his view that harbour authorities and trusts, who control the waters around ports, should own and control the sea bed."

Councillor Foxley concluded: "I am pleased that we took this opportunity to present our views and we got a fair hearing from the Treasury Sub-Committee. Hopefully, something positive will come from this review."

(GK/CD)