SNP ministers’ “indecision and inactivity” is blocking up to £150 million of investment into Scotland’s west coast, the director of a project which has sat on government desks for more than a year has said.
Loch Long Salmon have applied to construct a new salmon farm in Loch Long, a sea loch which is technically in the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. The initial plan was rejected by the park board in 2022 but then appealed to the Scottish Government for a final decision.
Planning officials’ final report on the case was submitted to ministers on February 15, 2024 – more than 13 months ago – but still no ruling has been made.
Mark Shotter, Loch Long Salmon’s project director, told The National that SNP ministers had “taken far too long on our decision”.
He went on: “There's always hold ups in projects, but when we get to this level of hold up, with no end in sight, no reason for the delay, that's when I feel we're getting to a stage where it's unacceptable.
“We would really be calling for the Scottish Government and the Scottish ministers to make a decision as soon as possible.
“Look, I am Scottish, it's a Scottish company, we hope that other companies will invest in Scotland and continue to do so for the benefit of the communities and for Scotland in general – but it simply cannot be a good advertisement, the delay that the Scottish Government has imposed on our project, in the eyes of other potential investors.”
The new farm, if approved, would represent an investment of around £40m and use a semi-closed containment system (SCCS) – a first for Scotland.
Whatever the merits of the arguments, they have been made. It is now for ministers to make a decision and, Shotter said, there has been little sign of that happening – and even less contact from government.
“We don't hear anything, which is obviously very, very frustrating,” the project director said.
“[The delay] seems at complete odds with the government's push for investment and growth.
“We know that all of our public services across Scotland are under immense pressure and there's just simply very little money to go around.
“This is an opportunity to bring a project to Scotland which represents £40m of inward investment, an overall pipeline of possibly up to £150m, yet we're seeing indecision and inactivity from Scottish ministers pushing this investment back.”
Last week, First Minister John Swinney addressed the Global Offshore Wind Investment Forum in Edinburgh, where he stressed the “importance of ensuring [that planning decisions] are taken timeously”. He said that was “central to the working approaches of my Government”.
“If you look at what's happening on the horizon now … we're just going to see a lot of investment on the east coast of Scotland because of these ScotWind projects, these offshore wind projects, and no doubt that will benefit the east coast communities more than others.
“What we're proposing here is a fantastic project on the west coast, which will provide jobs and investment into places like Argyll and Bute.
“If we can demonstrate this technology to the wider industry and open up that route for sustainable growth, then we hope that benefit will spread right up the west coast, into the Highlands and Islands too.
“Offshore wind is a big part of our net zero story, and it's a big part of our growth and investment story. Of course there should be some focus on that, absolutely.
“But what we shouldn't be doing is ignoring our other key industries in Scotland: food production, salmon farming.”
He added: “Don't forget, this project has already been labelled by the Scottish Government as having strategic significance for Scotland, because we're introducing this transformative technology for the first time. We believe it should be prioritised just as offshore wind projects should be.”
Loch Long Salmond has also explored building a SCCS farm in Loch Linnhe, near Oban, among other projects.
Shotter, who has been working on the Loch Long project for seven years, said his firm was waiting for a Government decision there to "help us understand how we're going to move other projects forward".
Responding, a Scottish Government spokesperson issued the same boilerplate response which has been given to media for at least four months.
It states: “Scottish ministers are giving full and proper consideration to this appeal and every effort is being made to issue a decision as soon as possible.”
The National had asked Shotter was his reaction would be if the Government again issued that line.
He said: “The ministers have had this decision on their desk for one year. It's holding up investment into an important project into Scotland, into an important industry, and we need this decision as soon as possible.”
