Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government does require assurances on staffing levels for some major grant schemes, for example Regional Selective Assistance (RSA) and research and development support for large grants (both granted by Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise). These job creation assurances are project specific, and for RSA must last for five years from their start date, or three years for a small and medium sized enterprise. Payment for both schemes are made in instalments, typically over several years as job and capital expenditure targets are met.

Field A - 8.20 hectares split between 4.00ha of classification 3.1 and 4.20ha of classification 3.2

Field B - 4.55 hectares split between 2.50ha of classification 3.1 and 2.05ha of classification 3.2

Field C - 7.44 hectares classification 3.2

The majority of the land at the Scottish Government stud farm at Knocknagael is required for the running of the stud. Land at Knocknagael which is surplus to the requirements of the stud will be disposed of, as required by the Scottish public finance manual. Assets which are surplus to the requirements of the Scottish Government must be disposed of as soon as possible subject to value for money requirements and the receipts reinvested in capital projects.

The field deemed unsuitable for cropping was considered to be let out for short term seasonal grazing but this was ruled out as the risk to the biosecurity of the Stud outweighed any benefits.

The field in question is a large field that is flat to the north end, with a considerable slope in the southern end which accounts for a third of the area. As a single unit, this field could have been safely used for crop and forage production, up and down the hill as there was a sufficient run off area for machinery. However, the land immediately at the bottom of this slope was compulsory purchased and now forms part of the Inverness flood relief channel, cutting off the run area for machinery.

A visual risk assessment was carried out on the sloping land. It was determined that the full range of normal arable operations could not be carried out safely as the slope was too steep to allow safe turning of machinery and also there was no safe run off area. This was because there was a risk that if a machine became uncontrollable at any point on the slope, it would inevitably end up plunging into the deep drainage channel. The possibility of traversing the slope was assessed and again a majority of the land was deemed too steep to allow for the full range of arable operations to be undertaken.

The situation has been reviewed again and the majority of the sloping area is still unsuitable for the full range of agricultural activities to be safely carried on it. While some operations such as cutting may be achievable due to the nature of farm machinery baling on those areas is considered to be a risk to the safety of the individuals carrying out the operation.

All farmers and individuals operating agricultural machinery should be undertaking progressive risk assessments when undertaking all activities. It is for each individual to determine the level of risk depending on their circumstances and activities occurring on their land. If anyone is concerned about a particular activity they should contact the Health and Safety Executive for advice.

Any surplus silage is sold through the local machinery ring. receipts from crop sales are not broken down between the sales of silage, barley and fodder. The income received each year from financial year 2006-07 to the present is set out in the following table:

Proposal of application notices, were served on each of the four community councils within whose areas overlap with the planning application boundary. These community councils were also invited to the public event. The Highland Council validated the proposal of application notice and did not advise that any other parties should be informed at this stage.

Following submission of the original application, the Scottish Government’s planning consultants engaged directly with The Highland Council’s allotments officer, in discussions concerning allotment provision at the site and objections that had been raised. The Scottish Government will seek to engage with the allotments association (and any other body as advised by the planning authority) as part of the pre-application community consultation process for the revised planning submissions.

We are committed to undertaking meaningful community consultation with regards to the development proposals at Knocknagael Farm. As a “major” planning application, there is a statutory requirement to host at least one public event prior to submission of the planning application. The Scottish Government hosted an event on 19 September 2012 which complied with this requirement. The exhibition provided information about what is proposed, its rationale and the expected timescales.

Although the event was appropriately advertised and local community groups informed, the event was poorly attended. So while there is no statutory requirement to do so, the Scottish Government will host a further community consultation event prior to submitting the revised planning application. This is likely to take place in mid-late August 2013. All identified community groups, including local community councils, the Allotments Association and any other bodies recommended by the planning uthority will be invited to the event. There will also a leaflet drop to houses in the immediate vicinity of the site and the event will be advertised in the local paper.

A detailed community consultation strategy will be prepared and agreed with the planning authority prior to these activities being undertaken.

There will be a consultation exercise with relevant industry stakeholders regarding the new tenancy at Balrobert. Their views will be taken into account before finalising plans. We will ensure that the group includes local representation.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-16282 on 6 August 2013. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment made an announcement at the Royal Highland Show that there would be an agricultural tenancy created ideally targeted at new entrants at Balrobert Farm.

Officials are currently working on the detail of this before consulting with key stakeholders.

Information will be published in due course.

The amount of surplus land that we propose to dispose of equates to a loss of 8.2 hectares of land suitable for arable production, which has the capability to produce at most about 45 tonnes of barley per year. This is around one fifth of 1% of Highland barley production. (The proportion of Highland production is based on the proportion of Highland area of barley).

The remainder of the surplus land is grassland equates to a loss of grassland of one hundredth of 1% of grassland in the Highland area.