Pilots of a new pre-application consenting process developed by the Consenting Task Group commenced in January 2024 in the Shetland and Highland local authority areas.Our priorities for this year, developed by the Consenting Task Group and agreed by the Scottish Aquaculture Council, include delivering more pilots, completing and responding to evaluation activities to improve the process, exploring opportunities to better coordinate Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA) activities and working to align onward application processes.We are also taking action to clarify the consenting process for aquaculture developments beyond 3 nautical miles.As part of this work we have recently published a consultation on proposals for plans to address an existing gap in aquaculture planning regulations by extending Local Authority planning controls through marine planning zones further offshore out to 12 nautical miles.The public consultation will run until 11 December and can be viewed at Extending marine planning zones: consultation - Scottish Government consultations - Citizen Space. S6W...