Question reference: S6W-04235
- Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 9 November 2021
-
Current status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 23 November 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government which sites have had river gravel extraction licences granted in each of the last five years.
Answer
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is responsible for regulating gravel extraction from rivers under the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2011 (CAR). Due to the cyber attack SEPA experienced at the end of 2020 it only currently has licence information available for 2021 until the impacted data is recovered for previous years.
In 2021 SEPA issued six licences where sediment management was one of the activities, as detailed in the following table. These activities fall into two main categories – either flood prevention (where there is no practical alternative e.g. clearing under a bridge or other pinch point) or as part of works to protect/ repair an asset.
SEPA CAR Licence | Location | Description |
CAR/L/1198235 | Dalmakether Burn, Dumfries and Galloway | Removing sediment from a blocked rail culvert. |
CAR/L/1197448 | Loch Ericht, Dalwhinnie | Removing and redistributing sediment within Loch Ericht to maintain operation of Hydro scheme. |
CAR/L/SEPA2021-272 | River Lossie, Elginshire | Sediment removal to maintain existing realigned channel. |
CAR/S/SEPA2021-245 | Kilmarnock | Removing sediment from under a bridge for flood prevention. |
CAR/S/1198199 | Haulkerton, Laurencekirk | Sediment removal under a railway bridge linked to repair work. |
CAR/S/SEPA2021-569 | River Nairn, nr Cawdor | Sediment management as part of works to protect electricity pylon. |