Carlingford Oyster Appeals Technical Advisor Report
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Appeal Ref No. AP54/2019, 55/2019, 56/2019 Aquaculture Licences Appeals Board Technical Advisor’s Report T01/054A, T01/054B, T01/119 Carlingford Lough Oyster Licence appeals Final Version August, 2020 Carlingford Lough Aquaculture License Appeal Board 2020 Summary Description Appeal against the decision by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to refuse to grant and to grant with variations Aquaculture and Foreshore Licences to cultivate pacific oysters using bags and trestles on sites on the subtidal foreshore in Carlingford Lough, Co. Louth License T01/054A, T01/054B, T01/119 Applications Appeal AP54/2019, 55/2019, 56/2019 References Technical Marie Louise Heffernan CEnv, MCIEEM, MSc Advisor Aster Environmental Consultants Limited www.aster.ie Photographs Adrian Heffernan Photography Site Inspection 03/06/2020 Applicant Cooley Oysters License T01/054A, T01/054B, T01/119 Application AP54/2019, 55/2019, 56/2019 Minister's The decision of the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Marine was to refuse an Decision Aquaculture license to Cooley Oysters for the cultivation of Pacific Oysters using bags and trestles at Carlingford Lough. Note AP54/2019, 55/2019 are for renewal and 56/2019 is a new application Appeal Appeal by Cooley Oysters against the decision of the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Marine to refuse the license applied for T01/054A, T01/054B, T01/119 Appellant Cooley Oysters 2 Carlingford Lough Aquaculture License Appeal Board 2020 Contents 1.0 General Matters / Appeal Details ................................................................................5 1.1 Appeal Details & Observer Comments / Submissions .............................................5 1.2 Name of Appellant .....................................................................................................7 1.3 Name of Observer .....................................................................................................7 1.4 Grounds for Appeal ...................................................................................................7 1.5 Minister’s submission ................................................................................................8 1.6 Applicant response ....................................................................................................8 2.0 Consideration of Non-Substantive Issues ..........................................................................8 3.0 Oral Hearing Assessment ...................................................................................................8 4.0 Minister’s file ......................................................................................................................9 5.0 Context of the Area.....................................................................................................9 5.1 Physical descriptions .................................................................................................9 5.2 Resource Users ....................................................................................................... 12 5.3 Environmental Data ................................................................................................ 16 5.4 Statutory Status ...................................................................................................... 19 5.5 Protected Species ................................................................................................... 22 5.6 Statutory Plans ........................................................................................................ 26 5.7 Man-made heritage ................................................................................................ 27 6.0 Section 61 Assessment ............................................................................................... 29 6.1 Site Suitability ......................................................................................................... 30 6.2 Other uses ............................................................................................................... 31 6.3 Statutory Status ...................................................................................................... 33 6.4 Economic effects .................................................................................................... 34 6.5 Ecological Effects .................................................................................................... 34 6.6 General Environmental Effects .............................................................................. 35 6.7 Effect on man-made heritage ................................................................................ 35 6.8 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 35 6.9 Confirmation re Section 50 Notices ....................................................................... 38 7.0 Screening for Environmental Impact Assessment. ................................................... 38 3 Carlingford Lough Aquaculture License Appeal Board 2020 8.0 Screening for Appropriate Assessment. .................................................................... 38 9.0 Technical Advisor’s Evaluation of the Substantive Issues.............................................. 41 10.0 Recommendation of Technical advisor with reasons and Considerations ................. 41 11.0 Draft Determination ...................................................................................................... 44 References ......................................................................................................................... 45 4 Carlingford Lough Aquaculture License Appeal Board 2020 1.0 General Matters / Appeal Details This report deals with 3 appeals AP54/2019, 55/2019, 56/2019 corresponding to applications T01/054A, T01/054B, T01/119. It should be noted that although of these appeals are dealt with under Carlingford appeals each is considered individually with the data examined for each application site case by case. 1.1 Appeal Details & Observer Comments / Submissions Oyster Cultivation Appeals Three appeals are in respect of oyster cultivation located in outer Carlingford Lough past Greenore. The appeal numbers are AP54/2019, 55/2019, 56/2019 in respect of applications T01/54A, T01/54B and T01/119A. Photo 1. Existing Oyster cultivation adjacent to appeal areas (all photos by Adrian Heffernan) Photo 2 Existing Oyster cultivation adjacent to appeal areas. 5 Carlingford Lough Aquaculture License Appeal Board 2020 Photo 3: Appeal area T01/119 (AP56/2019) accessible at low tide. Map 1: Oyster Cultivation at Carlingford Lough south of Greenore. Red areas under appeal. 6 Carlingford Lough Aquaculture License Appeal Board 2020 1.2 Name and Address of Appellants Site (North to South) Appellant Address T01/054A Cooley Oysters Muchgrange, Greenore, dundalk, Co Louth, ireland A91FN50 T01/054B Cooley Oysters Muchgrange, Greenore, dundalk, Co Louth, ireland A91FN50 T01/119A Cooley Oysters Muchgrange, Greenore, dundalk, Co Louth, ireland A91FN50 1.3 Name of Observer No observers except for appeal number T01/119A. Observation in support of grant of this licensing from Ambrose Ferguson including a visual impact statement. 1.4 Grounds for Appeal T01/054A The applicant contend that this site renewal/realignment forms an integral part of the farm realignment first requested in 2007. Addressing this issue is not an attempt to gain additional production areas but rather to align the maps with the historic location of the farm. In fact the BIM statement from the statutory consultee responses said "BIM support the renewal of the realigned version of this licence. In their considered view, it is the realigned version that should legitimately be considered for renewal purposes". T01/054B The applicant contend that this site renewal/realignment forms an integral part of the farm realignment first requested in 2007. Addressing this issue is not an attempt to gain additional production areas but rather to align the maps with the historic location of the farm. In fact the BIM statement from the statutory consultee responses said "BIM support the renewal of the realigned version of this licence. In their considered view, it is the realigned version that should legitimately be considered for renewal purposes". T01/119 The application is for a new licence for intertidal oysters .The refusal was principally on visual and amenity impact. The applicant wishes to contend that the extension does not negatively impact on the nature of the view (Which already contains a portion of the oyster farm). He states that “viewing opportunities are curtailed by frequency of low tides” and “as the site is below the level of the road it does not impinge on either the foreground or skyline from that route”. He also states that “Oysters are an integral part of the tourism offering of Carlingford Lough, and rather than detracting from the amenity value of the area, our business supports initiatives such as Origin Green and the national Food Board An Bord Bia, community beach clean ups, the Carlingford Oyster Festival and the recently announced Louth Seafood trail”. Substantive Issues The above grounds for appeal were all considered to be substantive issues Non Substantive Issues There were no issues arising 7 Carlingford Lough Aquaculture License Appeal Board 2020 1.5 Minister’s submission Section 44 of the Fisheries (Amendment) Act 1997 part 2 states that “The Minister and each other party except