Traigh Mhòr to be dropped from environmental restrictions 19/11/11
Two economically important areas on Barra are expected to be dropped from controversial environmental designations.
Islanders have strongly urged that Barra beach airport and the Ardveenish pier area should be removed from proposals for a marine Special Area of Conservation (SPC) in the Sound of Barra.
Locals harvest cockles on the ebb tide at the Traigh Mhòr airport where, uniquely, planes daily use the beach as a landing strip. It was feared environmental designations could seriously hamper both activities.
However, there was never any reason the beach should be designated as it does not contain the qualifying elements of sandbanks, reefs or seals.
Similarly, Ardveenish pier is vital to the local fishing fleet as numerous boats land their catches there for the island’s processing factory. The harbour is also likely to be excluded as the fishing fleet activity is not harming the sandbanks and reefs in the vicinity.
Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) which advises the Scottish Government over the SAC proposal was sympathetic towards removing the shoreline designations.
A SNH spokesman told Hebrides News: “This is a reasonable point and we are more than happy to include this in our response. This issue was raised at the public meeting in Eriskay on 4 October and we will report it back to Ministers in our consultation report.
“It is important that as many people as possible respond to the consultation so we can include their views in our report to Government.
“We have been asked to carry out this consultation by Government and will do everything we can to gather views from interested parties and feed them back.
“This is a consultation on the scientific case for the designation and the site boundary – not on social and economic issues, although these will be reported as well.”
MSP Alasdair Allan said: “As I have made clear in the course of the current consultation, the view of people in Barra about this proposed new designation is that they are strongly against it.
“One of the biggest fears which has been raised with me frequently locally is whether designation would have any impact on the operation of the islands’ famous airport at Traigh Mhòr.
“Given the economic importance of both Traigh Mhor and Ardveenish Pier to the island, I think it would be reasonable for these areas to be removed from these proposals. I recently put this case to SNH themselves.
“SNH have responded to my enquiries by saying that as the Traigh Mhor does not include any qualifying habitats they will be happy to recommend that this area is excluded from any proposed SAC. They are also looking at the question regarding Ardveenish and will consider this before publishing their report.
“This is progress from SNH, however belated, and I hope that further progress can now be made in the coming weeks and months on further reducing the potential impact of any SAC. Particularly significant is the acceptance that large areas of the present SAC site do not in fact contain any of the things the legislation is designed to protect, and I will therefore be pressing this issue further with SNH. I will also continue to make clear people in Barra’s opposition to the wider designation itself.”