EIR/202500474011 · FOI/EIR · not held
Environmental justifications for Western Landfall selection in Stromar Wind Farm Project: EIR release
Information requested
1. Environmental Concerns Influencing the Landfall Change
What specific environmental concerns contributed to the decision to abandon the Eastern landfall site? Who raised or documented these concerns (e.g. NatureScot, Marine Scotland, developer, or other body)? When were these concerns first raised or recorded in writing? Were any reports, internal memos, assessments, meeting minutes, or correspondence created in relation to theseconcerns?
2. Integration of Environmental Concerns into the Scoping Process
Were these environmental concerns reflected in the original Scoping Opinion (11 April 2024) or in any other publicfacing project documentation? If the concerns arose after the Scoping Opinion was issued, was a Scoping Addendum considered, discussed, or rejected as a result?
Response
As the information you have requested is ‘environmental information’ for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.
This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.
1. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide all of the information you have requested because an exception under regulation 10(4)(a) (information not held) of the EIRs applies. Under the terms of this exception, the Scottish Government is not required to provide information which it does not have. This exception is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception. While we recognise that there may be some public interest in the Eastern landfall site, clearly we cannot provide information which we do not hold.
1. The concerns you referenced were raised during a meeting on 10 December 2024, 8 months after the scoping process concluded and a scoping opinion was issued. The undertaking of Environmental Impact Assessment ("EIA") scoping is not a legislative requirement, and no further EIA scoping of this project was required prior to the submission of any applications for section 36 consent and marine licences.
About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.
Contact Please quote the FOI reference Central Correspondence Unit Email: contactus@gov.scot Phone: 0300 244 4000 The Scottish Government St Andrew's House Regent Road Edinburgh EH1 3DG
Detected exemption language
We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA. This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide all of the information you have requested because an exception under regulation 10(4)(a) (information not held) of the EIRs applies.
Attachments
No attachments found.