Environment – Page 3 – ardentinny.org

March 3, 2019February 28, 2026

Ardentinny Trout Farm Proposal – Community Council Meeting

An Ardentinny Community Council meeting has been announced to discuss the proposed Dawnfresh Ardentinny Trout Farm which is currently at the Environmental Impact Assessment screening stage (EIA) with Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. An outline leaflet produced by Dawnfresh on the proposed trout farm has been posted on the village notice board.

According to the planning documents submitted to the National Park, the fish farm would be located on the outskirts of Ardentinny in Loch Long, south of the village and Ravenrock Lighthouse. The installation would consist of 10 – 38m diameter circular pens in a 5 x 2 configuration, placed in a 80m x 80m mooring matrix. The site would be serviced by a feed barge on the shore side holding at least 200T of feed. The location of the shore base in or around Ardentinny is yet to be decided.

The Ardentinny site is one of four proposed fish farms in the Clyde area. The other locations being Bute, Great Cumbrae and Little Cumbrae.

As part of the Ardentinny project, Dawnfresh proposes to service the site daily by boat from a shore base at Ardentinny and to employ a local workforce of six. The shore base may include office facilities, storage shed and access to the shore. Site boats will be located close to the shore base either at a pontoon or moorings.

Site of proposed fish farm (main Ardentinny road – from south)

The site will operate 7 days a week and fish stock will be delivered to the farm by wellboat. Stock will be grown on in the first year and will be harvested in the second year on an ongoing basis. Harvests will be undertaken by wellboat, initially using mobile harvesting equipment, at a yet to be determined nearby port.

A video survey has been undertaken beneath the proposed site and the results will be analysed and presented in the final planning application. An application has been submitted to Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) to confirm that the proposed biomass is within the carrying capacity of the area.

Wildlife
As part of the EIA screening application, Dawnfresh has addressed “Interaction with predators”. The report mentions that “Marine fish farms can experience considerable losses to predators if a predator identifies the farm as a viable food source”. Tensioned square mesh (30mm) top nets will be used to prevent predation by birds. The application also mentions that “Seals are initially attracted to a farm to graze on fallen stock and then move on to attack livestock. As a result, an attack has the potential to impact many thousands of fish and cause enormous stress on the rest of the fish population”.

In order to mitigate this, a daily collection of mortalities along with seal blinds (fine mesh) is envisaged. The application continues.. “If highly tensioned nets and daily removal of mortalities proves to be ineffective in deterring seals and in the event of full enclosure predator nets being inappropriate for use at this site Dawnfresh will consider the use of Acoustic Deterrent Devices (ADDs)”. “It is accepted that it may not be possible to totally eliminate predation by seals. Should mitigation measures be insufficient to protect fish stocks, Dawnfresh will consider the humane dispatch of a rogue seal”.

Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment
The application states that “Dawnfresh will undertake a full Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment (LVIA) in support on the proposed site. Photomontages will be prepared from key viewpoints which will be identified based on advice from our chosen landscape architect and further advised by SNH and the Planning Authority”.

Community engagement
The company also states that it’s an active supporter of community engagement, in particular supporting beach cleans and providing staff and boats to assist in these operations as well as supporting community groups, organisations and events.

Construction of the proposed trout farm is estimated to take between two to three weeks.

Our local MSP and Ward Councillors were invited to comment on the proposal. Cabinet Secretary for Government Business and Constitutional Relations and MSP for Argyll and Bute, Mike Russell, considered that the key issues would be environmental pollution and escapes and what assurances are in place for these. He said “Given it is in the National Park, the guarantees would require to be cast iron in terms of technology for escapes and monitoring of environmental discharges.” Councillor Yvonne McNeilly said she would listen to the views expressed by all of her constituents, after community consultation.

The Community Council Meeting will take place in Ardentinny Village Hall on Monday 11 March at 7pm. All are welcome.

Useful links:

EIA Screening documents for installation of fish farm (Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park – Planning)
Dawnfresh corporate website
Friends of Loch Etive
Farmed trout escape in Loch Awe
Dawnfresh rush to repair net following breach
Sea Lice Breaching Farm List
Probe over chemicals at Scots fish farm as deaths increase
Jobs boost as new £8m fish farms plan is revealed

June 12, 2015February 28, 2026

Onshore Renewables Consultation Result

Following Argyll and Bute Council’s consultation on its framework for community benefits from onshore renewables, a summary of the responses is available on the Council’s website at www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/sites/default/files/consultation_responses.pdf.

As a result of this it has produced ‘Argyll and Bute Guidance for Community Benefits from Onshore Renewables‘.

May 14, 2015February 28, 2026

Community Council requested to consult local authority on damage compensation and monitoring of radioactive emissions

At Ardentinny Community Council’s April meeting a local resident requested the following action from the Community Council as part of its remit “to help make public bodies aware of the opinions and needs of the community it represents.“

The request was made in the context of past events at HMNB Clyde and RNAD Coulport. For example, the MOD officially recorded 105 ‘nuclear safety events’ in the Coulport and Faslane bases in 2013-14, and in March 2014 Ardentinny residents experienced damaging impact from blasts at Coulport.

Therefore, the request was made to consult with Argyll and Bute Council “as to where compensation would be obtained should there be any damage to residents’ homes and livestock, e.g., horses; and ‘what emergency procedures have been put in place and how satisfactory are they?” The Clyde Off-site Emergency Plan has recently been updated and can be found here. The Council has been advised that the population of Ardentinny is in excess of 50, as published in the plan.

With regard to radioactive emissions, it was requested that “the community council consult the local authority on how to ensure that there is consistent and local, independent monitoring of the safety of the beach at Ardentinny and that the results are made public.” Levels of emissions can be found in the RIFE-19 Report on Radioactivity in Food and the Environment (Dec. 2014) which is compiled by the Environment Agency; Food Standards Agency; Natural Resources Wales; Northern Ireland Environment Agency; and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. Faslane and Coulport are specifically covered in pages 168-169 and Appendix 2, p.249 & p.254.

According to SEPA, the radioactive waste currently being discharged from Faslane and Coulport is below the current agreed limits and there are plans to agree new limits to better reflect actual discharges together with continuing conditions which require the amount of discharged waste to be minimised.

jimmy john liautaud

April 2, 2015February 28, 2026

Hydro Steering Group – Appeal for Additional Members

24 residents attended a public meeting in the Village Hall on Tuesday, 31 March to discuss the formation of a Hydro Steering Group for the proposed Hydro schemes in Ardentinny.

Chairperson, Dougie Menzies explained that the purpose of the meeting was to set up a Steering Group which would be tasked with drawing up the Constitution of a future Hydro Trust and the appointment of its Trustees which would then manage the income from renewable energy projects on behalf of the community.

He said that a pre steering group had been formed after the developer Co Hydrover approached the Community Council. This group of 8 included Ian McInnes MBE; Councillor Bruce Marshall; and National Park representative, David Mackenzie. However, they were keen to recruit a wider group of people in order to tap into the wealth of ideas and skills across the community to establish a formal Steering Group.

It was stressed that it was not the intention to discuss the project in detail, as it was in the very early stages and it was suggested that the developer was already experiencing delays liaising with Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS).

Mr. Malcolm Crosby, FCS Project Manager for Onshore Renewables informed us that, while he had been unaware of Tuesday night’s meeting, the developer had met with representatives of Ardentinny Community Council in January and that normal procedures for progressing the project were underway. He explained that FCS’ solicitors must first check the Titles of the land in question and that that process had begun. In the meantime, the developer can conduct walk-over surveys, something the Chair affirmed had begun, but any investigative drilling work etc. must wait for their solicitors’ report and its acceptance by the developer.

There will be an opportunity to discuss the project with the developer at a future public meeting later in the year but the current focus is to open up membership of the Steering Group to everyone in the village.

Ian McInnes suggested that it would be useful to have the publication of the Community Action Plan coincide with the developer’s public meeting. An example of a project that they have already been involved in is that of Kilfinnan Community Forest.

It was pointed out that the future Hydro Trust would manage income from all Hydro Schemes. For example, Ross MacArthur’s private scheme, which is a little further on, would be included. Indeed other renewables projects could be included which are not necessarily limited to hydro. David Mackenzie referred to other Trusts which handle not only income but outgoings where communities have decided to invest in certain schemes in order to obtain a greater return.This could be another item for consideration by the Steering Group.

A question was raised as to how open Trust membership would be and the response was that that would be a decision for the Steering Group. FCS have published regulations on “Defining an appropriate community organisation” for communities to receive community benefit from developer-led renewable energy projects on the National Forest Estate Also Argyll and Bute Council’s Onshore Renewables Community Benefits Consultation results, which are currently being collated, could be another useful information source for the future Steering Group.

The Chair then asked for volunteers to join the Steering Group and a further 8 came forward. The group comprised:

Dougie Menzies

Ian McInnes

David Mackenzie

Bruce Marshall

Neil Robinson

Val Kennedy

Marian Norris

Eileen Connell

Rob Bray

Malcolm Bartley

Linda Naismith

Jeanette Riley

Catriona McPhail

Guy Elder

Lynn Kerr

Bill Williamson

Anyone else in the village who would like to join is welcome to do so. If you are interested in participating, contact Dougie Menzies on 01369 810307.

February 22, 2015February 28, 2026

Onshore Renewables – Community Benefit Consultation

In view of the potential onshore renewables projects in Ardentinny which have recently been raised at Ardentinny Community Council meetings, residents may wish to participate in Argyll and Bute Council’s Community Benefit Consultation.

The Council has drawn up a framework for community benefits from onshore renewables which will replace its 2005 policy. You may view this draft document here. You are invited to provide your feedback here.

Responses should be submitted no later than 13 March 2015.