EISR Request - 61041 Celtic Renewables, Rothes

Request 101003134655 

We are working on behalf of Celtic Renewables to carry out an EIAR in support of an application for a site at Land adjacent to North Street, Rothes, Moray. The attached includes a PoAN Red Line Boundary on the final page. The location is centred at approx. at NJ 27811 49912 / 327811E  849912N / nearest postcode AB38 7BW.

I wondered whether you could please provide any relevant environmental or geotechnical information the Council holds relating to this site. With respect to the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004, please could you provide any information the Council holds on the following, including but not limited to:

1. any records of flooding on site/the immediate surrounds (including relevant information from the Rothes Flood Protection scheme)
2. any known landfill sites within 1km (including former refuse tip on west side of North Street),
3. any private water supplies within 1km,
4. any known contaminative land uses within 500m
5. any sites that have been formally identified as contaminated land under Part IIA of the EPA 1990.
6. any records on fuel tanks within 500m,
7. any previous reporting pertaining to the site, or sites within 500m,
8. any records of previous or current mining, including opencast mining, within 500m of the site,
9. any known pollution incidents at the site or in the surrounds.

We will also review the Council’s planning portal. If you could please confirm any costs required to proceed.

Response 15-09-2022

1. Information on flooding is not held by Environmental Health. Environmental & Commercial Services (Consultancy) may hold some information.
2. The “Refuse Tip” shown on the 1971 Ordnance Survey map was the subject of a visual inspection by the Council in 2008 within its duties under Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Given the limited evidence of made ground, the Council took no further action.  The area between the two former railway embankments immediately to the southeast of the site has been the subject of upfilling. A contamination investigation was carried out on the southern section of this area as part of the Rothes Flood Alleviation Scheme.  
3. There are no registered private water supply sources within 1km.
4. Apart from those uses mentioned in items 2 & 6, there are numerous current and historical uses within 500 metres identifiable from historical maps including railways, distilleries, gas works and copper works.
5. There are no sites formally identified as contaminated land in Rothes.
6. Petroleum licence archives indicate three historical petrol underground storage tanks within 500 metres: Glen Grant (>200 metres southwest, exact location not available in digital records),  Ashville Potato Merchant, Green Street (375 metres southeast), Rothes Motors, New Street (490 metres south). Full details are held in paper archive and can be provided on request. No information on historical or current diesel tanks or tanks other than petrol is held in petroleum licence records.
7. Numerous contamination assessment reports were prepared for the Rothes Flood Alleviation Scheme for sites within 500 metres. The nearest site for which a report is available is the southern section of the upfilled area to the southeast of the enquiry site. The report is attached. If reports for the other sites would also be of interest, these can be retrieved on request.
8. Environmental Health as no knowledge of mining in the Rothes area.
9. A search of the digital public health nuisance records for North Street shows one incident: pollution of a property by sewage from a septic tank at Greenbrae, North Street, 2017. SEPA is likely to have a more complete record of environmental pollution incidents.