Caithness and Sutherland Flow Country bid could mean tougher rules for developers
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Developers could face tougher planning regulations in the Flow Country as Highland Council looks to tighten up the bid for World Heritage Site status.
Councillors at the local authority's economy and infrastructure committee will be asked to approve an official planning statement which aims to protect the site ahead of a decision.
It sets out the practical processes that will be followed to protect the Flow Country from potentially harmful development while the bid for the Unesco status is being considered.
The statement effectively says that World Heritage Site status will be taken as a "material consideration" in any development proposals, adding that it may carry "significant weight".
Cllr Ken Gowans, the committee chairman, said: “The planning position statement aims to provide vitally important protection for Caithness and Sutherland’s Flow Country, which is a site of huge environmental importance.
“This statement is crucial due to the lack of precedent, with no site in Scotland previously nominated for wholly natural World Heritage criteria, nor one in a location where there is so much development pressure, specifically from onshore wind energy and electricity transmission infrastructure.”
The Flow Country World Heritage nomination was submitted to Unesco on February 1 and is now a "candidate" site.
Covering large areas of Caithness and Sutherland, it is the most extensive and diverse example of an actively accumulating blanket bog landscape found in the world.
Its biodiversity is considered to be significant, with its scale and connectivity offering resilience to the ecosystem and the species it contains.
The site’s bid for World Heritage status has the full support of Highland Council, the Scottish Government and the UK government.
An assessment mission, which is a visit by representatives of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and external experts to evaluate the nominated site and discuss the nomination, is scheduled for this summer.
Following that, the bid will be considered at the Unesco World Heritage committee in July 2024 when a decision will be made.
The planning position statement, which members are being asked to approve on Thursday, sets out the council’s position with regards to proposed developments within and outwith the candidate site for the period until the site is either "inscribed" on the World Heritage list or rejected.
The council says that while the site is not yet inscribed, consideration of the effects of development on the valuable natural habitats, species and ecosystems of the site remains important.
If developments that threaten the "Outstanding Universal Value" of the site are granted between submission of the bid and Unesco's decision, the bid could be seriously undermined, it warned.
The only effective and appropriate means of seeking to avoid adverse outcomes for the site is to fully assess the effects of development. The appropriate means of doing so is on the basis of the World Heritage nomination documentation, using World Heritage specific national planning policy content in National Planning Framework 4 and the Unesco Impact Assessment Guidance Toolkit.
The planning position statement sets out the approach that the council will require for development proposals seeking pre-application advice and the approach it will take to consideration of applications.
This aims to ensure that the necessary information is available to consider the effects of proposed development, including any potential impact on the attributes of the Flow Country "candidate" site and its integrity. The council says this will enable protection and preservation of the Flow Country’s Outstanding Universal Value, whilst also enabling appropriate development.
