£30m clean-up 'a waste of money'

Published on Saturday 5 December 2009 18:53

SCOTLAND'S water regulator has warned that £30 million of taxpayers' money is set to be wasted on a flawed scheme cleaning up a loch.

The Water Industry Commission for Scotland (WICS) believes the expensive project at Loch Ryan, a sea loch in Dumfries and Galloway, is unlikely to work.

But the Scottish Government has decided to press ahead with it regardless. WICS said spending 30m to meet the standards needed for shellfish production is "disproportionate" as just one small-scale oyster fishery is based there.

Rossmore Oysters, which has an annual turnover of about 60,000, produces about 200,000 oysters a year from the loch. With 30m spent on the cleaning project, that would work out at about 150 for each of the shellfish.

WICS has made it clear it is not even convinced the costly scheme, which involves diverting waste water to a different loch, will clean up Loch Ryan enough to meet European Union standards.

The regulator believes that instead of pressing ahead with a plan that could be a waste of money, a study should have been carried out to find the best solution. WICS chief executive Alan Sutherland told Scotland on Sunday the plan could result in 30m down the drain. "You can buy a lot of jobs with 30m," he said.

Any waters designated for oyster farming must meet EU standards on cleanliness under the shellfish waters directive.

If action is not taken to improve the water quality in Loch Ryan, then the Scottish Government could be hit with a hefty fine. The date for water to comply with the EU directive has already passed. However, Sutherland does not believe this means that there should be a rush to go ahead with a scheme that may not work.

Scottish Water came up with the plan of pumping treated waste water that goes into Loch Ryan into another nearby sea loch. However, WICS does not think this will necessarily solve the problem.

It believes run-off from agriculture, septic tanks and other causes might be behind the poor water quality in the loch – and warns this will continue despite the 30m plan. Despite WICS' concerns, however, the Scottish Government has directed Scottish Water to go ahead with the plan.

In light of this, WICS said it had no choice but to put the money towards what it believes is a flawed scheme.

But it warned that if the work fails to achieve the required standards, then no more money will be forthcoming.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "The waters of Loch Ryan support the commercial production of high-quality native oysters.

"This essential investment is necessary for Scotland to meet its environmental obligations set by European directives.

"The decision to invest has been fully supported by the expert opinion of the environmental regulator Sepa and it forms part of a range of measures being taken by the Scottish Government … to improve the water environment."