Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-16282 on 6 August 2013. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

Field A - 8.20 hectares split between 4.00ha of classification 3.1 and 4.20ha of classification 3.2

Field B - 4.55 hectares split between 2.50ha of classification 3.1 and 2.05ha of classification 3.2

Field C - 7.44 hectares classification 3.2

Proposal of application notices, were served on each of the four community councils within whose areas overlap with the planning application boundary. These community councils were also invited to the public event. The Highland Council validated the proposal of application notice and did not advise that any other parties should be informed at this stage.

Following submission of the original application, the Scottish Government’s planning consultants engaged directly with The Highland Council’s allotments officer, in discussions concerning allotment provision at the site and objections that had been raised. The Scottish Government will seek to engage with the allotments association (and any other body as advised by the planning authority) as part of the pre-application community consultation process for the revised planning submissions.

The Scottish Government Bull Stud Knocknagael will be self-sufficient in silage, hay and feed barley. Only concentrate feed and mineral supplements will be bought in as normal. Sufficient land has been retained to allow for a fully functional arable crop rotation which will allow adequate stocks of winter fodder to be secured, with cereals grown for feed with the surplus production sold on.

The fields were designated as surplus to agricultural requirements of the Scottish Government Bull Stud Knocknagael as their use was limited to arable cropping and winter forage production. This was due to their immediate proximity to housing estates and the public road which deemed them unsuitable for grazing bulls on the grounds of health and safety of the general public.

The field in question is a large field that is flat to the north end, with a considerable slope in the southern end which accounts for a third of the area. As a single unit, this field could have been safely used for crop and forage production, up and down the hill as there was a sufficient run off area for machinery. However, the land immediately at the bottom of this slope was compulsory purchased and now forms part of the Inverness flood relief channel, cutting off the run area for machinery.

A visual risk assessment was carried out on the sloping land. It was determined that the full range of normal arable operations could not be carried out safely as the slope was too steep to allow safe turning of machinery and also there was no safe run off area. This was because there was a risk that if a machine became uncontrollable at any point on the slope, it would inevitably end up plunging into the deep drainage channel. The possibility of traversing the slope was assessed and again a majority of the land was deemed too steep to allow for the full range of arable operations to be undertaken.

The situation has been reviewed again and the majority of the sloping area is still unsuitable for the full range of agricultural activities to be safely carried on it. While some operations such as cutting may be achievable due to the nature of farm machinery baling on those areas is considered to be a risk to the safety of the individuals carrying out the operation.

All farmers and individuals operating agricultural machinery should be undertaking progressive risk assessments when undertaking all activities. It is for each individual to determine the level of risk depending on their circumstances and activities occurring on their land. If anyone is concerned about a particular activity they should contact the Health and Safety Executive for advice.

The majority of the land at the Scottish Government stud farm at Knocknagael is required for the running of the stud. Land at Knocknagael which is surplus to the requirements of the stud will be disposed of, as required by the Scottish public finance manual. Assets which are surplus to the requirements of the Scottish Government must be disposed of as soon as possible subject to value for money requirements and the receipts reinvested in capital projects.

The field deemed unsuitable for cropping was considered to be let out for short term seasonal grazing but this was ruled out as the risk to the biosecurity of the Stud outweighed any benefits.

The Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment made an announcement at the Royal Highland Show that there would be an agricultural tenancy created ideally targeted at new entrants at Balrobert Farm.

Officials are currently working on the detail of this before consulting with key stakeholders.

Information will be published in due course.

Any surplus silage is sold through the local machinery ring. receipts from crop sales are not broken down between the sales of silage, barley and fodder. The income received each year from financial year 2006-07 to the present is set out in the following table:

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-13983 on 23 April 2013. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.