Blog

Nearly 3000 members of the public have joined the Friends of the Firth of Clyde, Fairlie Community Council, Fairlie Coastal & Cumbrae Community Council  to watch the virtual Hunterston Hustings 2021  and hear the views of MSP candidates about industrial development at Hunterston Peninsula, what they would do to ensure the balance of economic development against protection of the environment and, following on from the recent call from Flora & Forna International, how they would ensure meaningful community involvement at all stages of proposed developments.

Importantly, whilst the debate focused specifically on the area of Hunterston on the Firth of Clyde, it took place against the wider geo-political backdrop of a global climate emergency, post pandemic economic recovery and concern about conflicts of interest caused by lobbying of government by private companies.

An audience poll was undertaken at the start of the event and 58% of the participants responded by saying that developments at the Hunterston Peninsula was an issue that would influence their voting. Indicating there is strong local and increasingly national interest in the topic.

View Hunterston Hustings – Click Play and enter passcode: &Dt^+Y*2

Who Took Part?

An invitation was extended to all 18 standing political parties, 5 parties responded and the following MSP candidates joined the panel:

MSP Candidates:

• Ross Greer – Green
• Katy Clark – Labour
• Kenneth Gibson – SNP
• Jamie Green – Conservative
• David Griffiths – All for Unity

Candidates were asked to provide a personal statement and respond to the following pre-seen questions, which were followed up by a number of supplementary questions from the audience:

Question 1. “£28m (£18m Ayrshire Growth Deal and £10m from Scottish Enterprise) of public funds has been secured for Peel Ports development at Hunterston. Is this single big bet the best way to stimulate job creation for the area?’

Question 2. “Publicly funded environmental regulators are extremely vulnerable to pressure being put upon them by the Scottish Government and Local Councils, especially when they’re sponsoring initiatives which are presented in terms of the Green / Blue / Circular economy. What is your view of this and what have you done or would you do to ensure environmental protection regulations are duly and effectively undertaken?”

Question 3. “Peel Ports is the Harbour Authority for the Firth of Clyde, having board level influence on multiple quangos and being a big industrial developer on the Clyde. What conflicts of interest does this pose and how would you challenge these?”

Question 4. “How have you, or would you, ensure the voice of the community in local planning decisions is fully heard and that local communities and the surrounding land and marine environment are protected against the risks to health and threats to sustainability of proposed and ongoing industrial operations?”

What Did People Say About the Event?

The event has been praised for the quality of the discussion and the degree of agreement from across the political divide on the issue of protection of the marine environment, community involvement and the need for a positive vision for Hunterston.

What do Friends of the Firth of Clyde Say?

We were delighted to be able to work with Fairlie Community Council, Fairlie Coastal & Cumbrae Community Council to bring the Hunterston Hustings debate to  the community and give MSP candidates the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding and commitment to safe and sustainable development of Hunterston.

Whilst the panelists represented a wide spectrum of political views, we were especially impressed by the level of consensus that emerged about the urgent need to protect the surrounding marine environment through robust scrutiny of developments by planning and regulatory authorities, along with a commitment to make sure that the views of communities are heard  and acted on – including on current local concerns about the massive Valaris Drill ships currently berthed at Hunterston jetty . 

Shock and concern was expressed across the whole panel about the potential implications of recently discovered changes to the coal jetty lease between Crown Estates Scotland and Clyde/Peel Ports, seemingly made under the cover of the Cover Pandemic, to now allow the mooring of oil rigs and similar oil related vessels  at Hunterston Jetty until 2025 …. more on this to come soon.

Finally thanks to the team for making the event happen, to the panelists for taking the time to take part and everyone that attended, for making it such an informative, interesting … and dare we say enjoyable ?! event.

The bar has been set! and we will be watching the outcome of the elections with interest to follow-up the successful candidates on their pledges!

 Members of the public are invited to ‘#HunterstonHustings’ on 21 April 2021 starting at 7pm to hear the views of MSP candidates on industrial development at the Hunterston Peninsula.

Hosted by Friends of the Firth of Clyde, Fairlie Community Council, Fairlie Coastal & Cumbrae Community Council, the debate will centre on industrial development and environmental protection of the Hunterston Peninsula on the coast of North Ayrshire. Against the wider backdrop of a global climate emergency, post pandemic economic recovery and political lobbying from private companies.

Register here to receive a confirmation email containing all the information you need to join the Zoom webinar.

Background:

Over recent years there has been significant local interest in Peel Ports’ proposed developments at Hunterston Peninsula.

In the 1970’s there were huge community and political protests about the industrialisation of the Hunterston Peninsula. Temporary heavy industrial developments have evolved over time with limited concern for surrounding communities and the local environment. More recently there has been substantial political support for Peel Ports to redevelop the land from a polluted coal port to a range of concepts including an LNG Terminal, Gas Power Station and an Oil Rig decommissioning yard. North Ayrshire Council have recently pledged £18m to Peel Ports for redevelopment with support of UK and Scottish Governments under the Ayrshire Growth Deal.

Against the backdrop of a climate emergency, and with COP26 being hosted in Glasgow; the husting will offer the opportunity for the voting public to hear MSP candidates views and position on:

• Financial and strategic economic development of Hunterston peninsula
• Governance and scrutiny of environmental protection
• Meaningful involvement of the community in a transparent planning process as well as community liaison.

Who is Taking Part?

The invitation was extended to all 18 standing political parties, 5 parties responded and the following MSP candidates will be taking part:

MSP Candidates:

• Ross Greer – Green
• Katy Clark – Labour
• Kenneth Gibson – SNP
• Jamie Green – Conservative
• David Griffiths – All for Unity

Format:

To ensure a well informed debate candidates have been asked to respond to the following advance questions:

Question 1. “£28m (£18m Ayrshire Growth Deal and £10m from Scottish Enterprise) of public funds has been secured for Peel Ports development at Hunterston. Is this single big bet the best way to stimulate job creation for the area?’

Question 2. “Publicly funded environmental regulators are extremely vulnerable to pressure being put upon them by the Scottish Government and Local Councils, especially when they’re sponsoring initiatives which are presented in terms of the Green / Blue / Circular economy. What is your view of this and what have you done or would you do to ensure environmental protection regulations are duly and effectively undertaken?”

Question 3. “Peel Ports is the Harbour Authority for the Firth of Clyde, having board level influence on multiple quangos and being a big industrial developer on the Clyde. What conflicts of interest does this pose and how would you challenge these?”

Question 4. “How have you, or would you,ensure the voice of the community in local planning decisions is fully heard and that local communities and the surrounding land and marine environment are protected against the risks to health and threats to sustainability of proposed and ongoing industrial operations?”

Agenda:

 Ground Rules:

• Audience will be muted and have video switched off for the duration, but can use the chat function to interact. The hands up function will not be used.
• The audience can pose questions into the Q&A function which will be overseen by the moderator and a selection will put to the candidates according to time available.
• Aggressive / abusive behaviour will not be tolerated, the hosts will remove nuisance participants.
• The session will be recorded and may be live streamed to Facebook.
• In order to offer all candidates the same opportunity timings will be strictly monitored.

We look forward to seeing you at #HunterstonHustings

Register here today for your confirmatory email:  https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_AWOierGLRV-hMZB5rmkeXA

Published Friday 16th April 2021

We are delighted to receive the support of Flora & Forna International (FFI) for our #SaveSouthannanSands Campaign calling for environmentally safe and sustainable development of Hunterston Peninsula.

Established over a century ago, FFI is the world’s oldest international wildlife conservation organisation supported by a host of distinguished and dedicated patrons, notably including Sir David Attenborough, which has a formidable reputation for a “pioneering science-based approach to conservation with a focus is on protecting the biodiversity of life on Earth, which underpins healthy ecosystems and is critical for the life-support systems that humans and all other species rely on”.

After learning about North Ayrshire Council’s (NAC) plans to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Peel Ports in preparation for the establishment of a Ministerial Task Force, Kerri Whiteside, FFI Lead for the Scottish Coastal Communities Network has written an open letter to the NAC Senior Executive Team asserting the need for developments at Hunterston to apply legal safeguards to protect the Southannan Sands SSSI & resident OSPAR protected species, whilst also reminding them that community consultation should be at the heart of processes as required under the Aarhas Convention.

The letter makes a powerful statement saying: “With the spirit of the Scottish Government’s current intentions to reform community access to marine decision-making in mind, there is surely a great opportunity being missed at present for the North Ayrshire Council to demonstrate how it takes its role seriously in ensuring a robust process is undertaken with regards to the Hunterston PARC. We implore the Council and to uphold its responsibilities to both the local community and the local natural environment, and to ensure that biodiversity protection and community consultation is at the heart of this development’s processes.”

Read the full letter Flora & Fauna International to North Ayrshire Council:

FFI Letter Hunterston PARC_02.03.2021

Want to know more about the Coastal Communities Network?

To catchup on all our previous news items click here >>>

8th February 2021

Five weeks ago two massive 250m long drill ships Valaris DS4 & DS8 arrived at Hunterston Jetty for warm stacking for an unspecified period of time. Just four weeks later communities surrounding the jetty were shocked, but sadly not entirely surprised, when both vessels broke their moorings in high winds followed by a 6 day battle in atrocious weather to secure them back at the jetty. The incident raises important questions about this specific incident, and we ask what does it tell us about the suitability of the jetty for activities proposed in the Hunterston Master Plan?

On arrival of the drill ships concerns were expressed by Fairlie Community Council (FCC) to ClydePort about the safety of the berthing arrangements. The jetty sits approximately 1km from land and is approximately 400m long. this was shorter than the 2 vessels, DS4 was berthed half on half off the jetty with the anchor deployed in an attempt to secure the bow.

Aside from the length of the vessels, the windage, i.e. the side of each boat above the water line subject to wind, is significant at approximately 8,800m2. Katabatic winds are well known in the area and wind speeds exceeding 80kts are not infrequent. Indeed, it was the quality of this wind that made the adjoining construction area the site of choice for testing the giant off shore wind turbines that were recently demolished. The weather conditions of the area, combined with the removal of the gantry cranes, which gave some cover, raised questions about  the impact of forces that boats of this size would experience if exposed to strong Easterly winds.

Compare the situation at Hunterston with that at Faslane, which is a very sheltered port operated by the Navy under the Queens Harbourmaster, they allow conventional ships in berths 1 and 2, however vessels with a windage of >3,500m2 must move off the jetty in sustained winds of >35kts.

On Tuesday 2nd February 2021, battered by strong easterly winds, a May Day was issued by DS4 which had broken free from its mooring and was drifting without power into the deep water channel towards Great Cumbrae. It soon became clear that a major incident was unfurling at Hunterston jetty as DS8 had also broken its moorings and it was only as a result of a number of chance circumstances and the swift action of the emergency services that  the drill ships were not blown into open water and potentially onto the opposite shores of Cumbrae, with high environmental damage and potential loss of life.  The area around Hunterston is of high environmental value and has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)  and is a rare ecosystem consisting of endangered species protected under OSPAR and the Nature Conservation Act.

To the alarm of onlooking residents in Fairlie, West Kilbride & Cumbrae the serious incident continued, with DS4 held at anchor in the deep water channel and DS8 being held  against the jetty by a group of tugboats overseen by the pilot boat and the coast guard, for a further 6 days until the vessels were returned to the jetty on Monday 8th February 2021.

This incident is of obvious major concern in its own right, but in the context of our well documented fears about the proposals put forward by ClydePorts, as part of Peel Ports and the wider Peel Group, to re-purpose Hunterston Terminal  for Oil Rig Decommissioning and as a Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) Terminal, it takes on much greater significance and provides evidence that local communities have every reason for serious safety and environmental concerns about the future use of the terminal.

These concerns are compounded by the fact that, as part of Peel Group,  ClydePort have significant commercial and property interests on the Clyde, whilst as the Clyde Port Authority they simultaneously hold  statuary powers  for marine regulation and safety enforcement for the Firth of Clyde.  We believe this presents a significant conflict of interest.

We have written  to North Ayrshire Council and Marine Scotland asking for an urgent independant and transparent investigation:

Asking the following questions:

• Who authorised the use of the jetty for 2 vessels, where the length significantly exceeded the length of the jetty?
• What detailed analysis was undertaken and is this documented in a full risk assessment? What formal authorisation processes where put in place by ClydePort?
• What decision making process was undertaken to allow vessels of this windage to anchor at such an exposed site?
• What risk assessment was undertaken regarding the event of a complete breaking of moorings?
• Are there clear enough lines of responsibility for oversight of complex operations when, as in this circumstance, there are many subcontractors involved in the berthing arrangements?
• What on-going monitoring of the conditions were in place at the jetty?
• Who is paying for the emergency response and subsequent  investigation?
• Have these vessels been deregistered as ships and re-registered as barges to reduce the minimum crew requirements of a ship?
• What type of antifouling is used by these vessels and has this been risk assessed for long lay up?
• The suitability of the jetty which is 52 years old, and not designed for this activity – what are the implications for similar activities promoted in the Hunterston Master Plan?

We have asked North Ayrshire Planning and Marine Scotland, to recognise that this incident highlights the unsuitability of many activities proposed in the ‘Hunterston Master Plan’ and that the scope of allowable operation needs to be assessed in light of the findings of this investigation.

Quick Links to previous news items >>>

12th March 2020

We are absolutely delighted to be able to announce that Marine Scotland & the Scottish Ministers have decided that Peel Ports’ plans for massive dredging and construction works at Hunterston to bring oil-rigs for decommissioning to Hunterston

WILL REQUIRE an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) .

Read the EIA Screening Opinion on the Marine Scotland Planning Portal>>>

Local news reporter Callum Coral of The Largs & Millport Weekly News, who has been one of the few journalist to consistently report on the FOFOC campaign, has announced the EIA outcome along with comments from North Ayrshire Council representatives  – read the full story here >>>

MSP Ross Greer who has  championed our #SaveSouthannanSands “SAY NO WAY WITHOUT AN EIA” campaign issued the following news release:

Greer Hails Community EIA Victory      

Green MSP Ross Greer has welcomed Scottish Ministers’ decision that Peel Ports must carry out a full Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) before construction work begins on an oilrig decommissioning facility at Hunterston. West of Scotland MSP Ross Greer had worked with the Friends of the Firth of Clyde Group to persuade the Scottish Government that such an assessment must be required before hundreds of thousands of tonnes of dredging took place beside Southannan Sands, a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Marine Scotland, an agency of the Scottish Government, released a letter on Monday revealing that Peel Ports must carry out the EIA before a decision can be made on whether or not to issue a license for the project

This follows over a year of campaigning by local residents, who are concerned by the likelihood of damage to the adjacent Southannan Sands Site of Special Scientific Interest. North Ayrshire Council had initially decided that an Environmental Impact Assessment was not necessary but since that stage Peel Ports have announced a significantly increased volume of dredging.

After initially supporting North Ayrshire Council’s decision, the Scottish Government confirmed in answer to a question from Ross Greer in March that they were reconsidering their position. Greer and Scottish Green environment spokesperson Mark Ruskell MSP had supported the Friends of the Firth of Clyde campaign for Marine Scotland to require an EIA.

Greer, whose West of Scotland Region includes Hunterston, commented:

“This is fantastic news for the community in Fairlie and for the local environment. I raised this issue with government ministers in writing and in Parliament, working with the Friends of the Firth of Clyde to make the case that hundreds of thousands of tonnes of dredging beside such a sensitive site without any impact assessment would be extremely irresponsible. I am glad ministers have listened and required that a full Environmental Impact Assessment take place before this process goes any further. It is frustrating that other local MSPs wouldn’t join us in this campaign but the right outcome has been reached regardless”.

“There are some really special species in the area, including porpoises and rare seagrass, and it would have been downright irresponsible to allow this scale of dredging and piling to go ahead without a full and frank consideration on the impact. I hope that a fully informed decision can now be made on whether Hunterston is suitable for oilrig decommissioning.”

At the moment we are still taking in the news and over the next few weeks we’ll working out what this all means and what happens next. This doesn’t mean the end to our work of our holding the planning and regulatory authorities to account to protect the marine environment and the communities that surround Hunterston. The one thing we have learned is that sustained public scrutiny is essential to ensure due legal process is always followed and potential conflicts of interest are called out.

So watch this space!

But for now we just want to send every one of our Friends and Supporters a massive “Thank you” for all your support and encouragement we really couldn’t have done it without you!

We are over the moon that FINALLY the complexity of Peel Ports proposals with the associated risks to Southannan Sands SSSI and the surrounding marine environment have been taken seriously.

1st Feb 2020

In the Scottish Wetlands Debate held in the Scottish Parliament on 15th January 2020, MSP Ross Greer highlighted  Peel Ports proposals at Hunterston along with Donald Trump’s golf course at Menie as evidence that SSSI doesn’t necessarily provide a gold standard of protection:

Ross said:

“We have heard about the importance of wetlands to our biodiversity and the wealth of fantastic and rare species that they support. That is why, this past February, I raised concerns about the Scottish Government’s new guidance on the protection of our 51 Ramsar sites. The Scottish Government’s response was to insist that the fact that those are designated as sites of special scientific interest gives them adequate protection, but the evidence suggests otherwise, as the impact of Donald Trump’s golf course, and many other developments, has shown.

In my region, there is still a question over whether the guidance will protect Southannan Sands, a fantastic marine environment at Hunterston, which is threatened by a dredging proposal. The Southannan situation should illustrate starkly the inadequacy of relying on SSSI designation for protection. If 0.5 million tonnes of dredging to decommission oil rigs in the same location does not automatically trigger the need for an environmental impact assessment, those regulations clearly need to be strengthened.”

Read MSP Ross Greer comments and the debate in full >>>>

We will continue to hold the planning and regulatory authorities to account for their decision making on whether they will “SAY NO WAY WITHOUT AN EIA” #SaveSouthannanSands

1st February 2020

At the centre of the FOFOC campaign for an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of Peel Ports proposals for oil rig decommissioning  at Hunterston is the concern that a ‘salami slicing’ approach to planning and licensing applications has been strategically adopted to avoid scrutiny of the overall and cumulative impact of the project on the surrounding marine ecosystem, which is home to a number of OSPAR protected species and Southannan Sands Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Hunterston is also surrounded by a number of coastal communities with their own concerns for the health and wellbeing of residents.

Those who are familiar with the geography of Hunterston Peninsula will be aware that the site of the proposed decommissioning project is a close neighbour of Hunterston Nuclear Power Station, which has itself been the subject of national scrutiny following the discovery of hundreds of cracks in the graphite bricks within the reactor core of Hunterston B.  Hunterston B is served by a secondary water cooling system which is licensed to discharge waste coolant containing legally agreed levels radioactive isotopes via a number of ‘outfalls’ back into the sea.

The closest of these outfalls is approximately 1km from the proposed dredging area.

The issue of nuclear safety at Hunterston is of considerable interest to the local and wider community.

On the 5th September 2019 a representative of the Friends of Firth of Clyde attended the Hunterston Site Stakeholder Group (SSG)to ask the following questions.

(i) What is the level of radioactivity within the sediment at Hunterston and what implications might significant dredging in the area have on its release into the marine environment?

(ii) What is the planning / licensing relationship between Hunterston Nuclear Site & Hunterston PARC?

(iii) What liaison /communication had taken place between the Nuclear Licensing Division of SEPA and the SEPA Waste Management Division that was consulted by Marine Scotland regarding the EIA Screening?

A SEPA inspector for Hunterston, explained that radioactive discharge is trapped within the sediment surrounding Hunterston, and that Sellafield also has an influence on the west coast.

He confirmed that environmental monitoring is a site requirement and anything discharged in to the marine environment is lawfully discharged under permit via the outfalls. He explained that any activity which involved disturbance of sediment surrounding Hunterston would require, as part of any licensing process, an assessment of the likelihood of any radioactive deposits being disturbed and if over the legal limit, a further permit would be required and the Health and Safety Executive would have to be consulted on the subsequent disposal of any radioactive material.

The SEPA inspector stated that at the time of the meeting the Nuclear Licensing Division of SEPA had not had any contact regarding the Hunterston decommissioning proposals, but as a statutory consultee SEPA would be consulted on any planning application. By this stage we were aware that SEPA Waste Management Division had responded to Marine Scotland as a Statuary Consultee leading us to believe that the question of the impact of dredging on radioactive sediment had not been addressed.

Further more on 8th November 2019 Envirocentre submitted supplementary information to Marine Scotland that included a section on disposal of dredged material which makes no reference to the potential radioactive risks of the sediment and states:

“The Best Practicable Environmental Option (BPEO) for disposal of the dredge material has identified the following preferred options:

• material re‐use as part of the wider site redevelopment;
• material re‐use (partial) at a site along the coast at Ardrossan if dredge and development timings are compatible. “

We have written to Marine Scotland asking that they urgently confirm that:

• The response to the EIA screening they have received from SEPA addresses the risk and impacts of disturbing radioactive sediment and evidences that the response has been drawn-up in collaboration with colleagues from the Nuclear Licensing Division
• That they have clearly addressed and risk assessed the implications for the marine ecosystem and human health and safety.

We await a response from Marine Scotland.