Alex Fergusson (Galloway and West Dumfries) (Con): 6. To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on Scottish Natural Heritage’s proposal to remove the site of special scientific interest designation from Pibble mine in Wigtownshire. (S4O-00394)
The Minister for Environment and Climate Change (Stewart Stevenson):
The Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 grants Scottish Natural Heritage the power to denotify all or any part of a site of special scientific interest where it considers that its natural features are no longer of special interest.
In the case of Pibble mine, the importance of the sole natural feature of interest was reconsidered as a result of the British Geological Survey’s geological conservation review, and it was judged that the site no longer met the qualifying criteria for notification as an SSSI.
Alex Fergusson: The minister is correct, but the British Geological Survey’s review was published in 1998, some 13 years ago—one might have thought that action would have been taken by now. The same review recommends the removal of the designation of several other SSSIs, yet only Pibble mine is currently to have it removed.
Is the minister aware that Pibble mine lies on the site of a proposed wind farm development, and that the other sites that the review mentions do not? Does the minister believe that that is just a coincidence?
Stewart Stevenson: SNH has notified and confirmed 10 SSSI denotifications in full and four in part, and has notified but is yet to confirm a further four denotifications in full and two in part.
With regard to the evaluation of Pibble mine, if the information had been available when it was designated, it would never have been designated in the first place as the number of points that it scores falls well below the designation level.
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About Stewart Stevenson
Born in 1946 and brought up in Cupar, Fife, I was educated at the local school - Bell Baxter - and studied Mathematics at the University of Aberdeen, graduating with a modest degree in 1969. That's also the year Sandra & I married. Her family comes from the North East.Thirty years later I retired from Bank of Scotland as Director of Technology Innovation and was elected to the Scottish Parliament in 2001 as member for Banff & Buchan having first joined the SNP in 1961.
I then represented the new constituency of Banffshire & Buchan Coast Constituency in our Parliament. I retired as an MSP on 5th May 2021
I was also previously (2007-2010), Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change and (2011-2012), Minister for Environment and Climate Change.
I hold the honorary posts of President of the Scottish Association for Public Transport
and Vice-President of Railfuture UK.I am a Fellow of The Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, a Member at The Institution of Engineering and Technology, a Professional Member of the Association for Computing Machinery, a Member of the Institute of Advanced Motorists and an Associate Member of the Highland Reserve Forces' and Cadets' Association.
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