Notice is hereby given that GNI (UK) Limited, with company registration no. 2827969, and registered address at 5th Floor, 6 St. Andrew Street, London, EC4A 3AE has obtained a Pipe-line Construction Authorisation (PCA) for a 7.2km Gas Pipe-line located to the west of Dumfries between Cluden (Grid Reference NX932796) and Lochfoot (Grid Reference NX898743) from the Scottish Ministers.

In 2001 a PCA was granted in favour of the developer for the construction of a 915mm gas pipeline from Beattock compressor station to Brighouse compressor station and a 762mm gas pipeline from Brighouse Bay to Solway Firth along a specified route (with a 200m limit of deviation), the Project. This PCA has been partially implemented, however GNI (UK) Ltd identified the need for a 7.2km re-route between Cluden and Lochfoot following consultation with Scottish Water who raised concern regarding potential impacts on groundwater, the suggested re-route for which PCA is sought avoids this area of concern.

The Project has been also recognised by the European Commission as a ‘Project of Common Interest’ (PCI). The reasoning behind this recognition is that upon completion the twin pipeline section from Cluden to Brighouse Bay would address the current pressure restriction in the onshore system, complete a duel pipeline system between Ireland and the United Kingdom and remove gas security supply concerns.

The Scottish Ministers grant a Pipe-line Construction Authorisation under section 1 of the Pipe-lines Act 1962 for the pipe-line described below.

Subject to the conditions set out below, the Scottish Ministers, by virtue of section 5 of the Pipe-lines Act 1962, approve Planning Permission for the development as set out in the Pipe-line Construction Authorisation outlined in Annex 1:

Annex 1

The Pipe-Lines Act 1962

Scotland to Ireland

Second Gas Interconnector Project

Scottish Land Pipe-line Cluden to Lochfoot

1. In pursuance of Section 1 of, and Schedule 1 to the Pipe-lines Act 1962, Scottish Ministers hereby authorise GNI (UK) Limited (Company number 2827969 and having its registered office at 6th floor, 6 St Andrew Street, London EC4A 3AE), to execute works in land for the construction of a 914.0mm (36 inches) cross-country pipe-line which is to be for the conveyance of Natural Gas between the National Grid Reference NX932796 796 and ending at the National Grid Reference NX 898 743 along the route delineated by the continuous red line on the map annexed hereto, signed by a person authorised by Scottish Ministers, or within 200 metres therefrom.

2. Scottish Ministers hereby direct, in pursuance of section 5 of the Pipe-lines Act 1962, that, in so far as the execution of the works authorised by, or by virtue of, this authorisation, or any change in the use of land which is involved in the execution of those works, constitutes development within the meaning of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997, permission for that development is deemed to be granted under Part III of that Act, subject to the conditions specified in Annex 3 hereto.

Annex 2

Obligations under the Pipe-lines Act 1962

1. Section 35 of the Act – The Company shall forthwith after the grant of the Pipe-line Construction Authorisation, deposit with the planning authority a copy of the map annexed to the authorisation that shows the route that lies within the planning authority area.

2. Section 36 of the Act - Notice shall be given to Scottish Ministers, within two weeks of;

(a) Commencement of use of the pipe-line;

(b) The abandonment of the pipe-line;

(c) The expiration of three years from the date on which the pipe-line was last used;

(d) The resumption of the use of the pipe-line.

3. Section 37 of the Act - Arrangements shall be made in advance whereby various authorities can be given immediate notice of the accidental escape or ignition of anything in the pipe-line, and, if requested, to furnish information and maps to those authorities.

4. Section 38 of the Act – Notice shall be given within three weeks to the Scottish Ministers and every person who is an owner, lessee or occupiers of land in which any part of the pipe-line lies, of a change of ownership of the pipe-line.

Annex 3 - Conditions attached to deemed planning permission

1. Except as otherwise required by the terms of Pipe-line Construction Authorisation, the Development shall be undertaken in accordance with the application and the environmental statement lodged in support of the application

Reason: to ensure that the Development is carried out in accordance with the approved details.

2. (1) Prior to any works commencing on site, the Company shall appoint an independent Ecological Clerk of Works (ECoW) with the power to stop and start work as required. The ECoW shall:

a) Monitor and support compliance with the ecological and hydrological commitments provided in the environmental statement and the Construction and Environmental Management Plan and Habitat Management Plans as approved and any other plans as approved by this authorisation;

b) Report to and submit a monthly written report to the Company’s nominated construction project manager;

c) Report to the Company’s nominated construction project manager any incidences of non-compliance with the ECoW works at the earliest practical opportunity;

d) Liaise with SEPA when pollution occurs.

(2) The ECoW reports shall be made available to the Planning Authority on request.

(3) The ECoW shall be appointed throughout the period from Commencement of Development throughout any period of construction activity and during any period of post construction restoration works approved in terms of condition 3(o)

Reason: to secure effective monitoring of and compliance with the environmental mitigation and management measures associated with the Development.

3. (1) Prior to any works commencing on site, a Construction and Environmental Management Plan (CEMP) containing site specific details of all on-site construction works, post-construction reinstatement, drainage and mitigation, together with details of their timetabling, shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the Planning Authority in consultation with SNH, SEPA and Scottish Water.

(2)The CEMP shall include:

a) A site waste management plan dealing with all aspects of waste produced during the construction period other than peat, including details of contingency planning in the event of accidental release of materials which could cause harm to the environment;

b) Details of the formation of the construction compound, welfare facilities, any areas of hardstanding, turning areas, internal access tracks, car parking, material stockpiles, oil storage, lighting columns and any construction compound boundary fencing;

c) A dust management plan;

d) Details of measures to be taken to prevent loose or deleterious material being deposited on the local road network, including wheel cleaning and lorry sheeting facilities and measures to clean the site entrances and the adjacent local road network;

e) A pollution prevention and control method statement, including arrangements for the storage and management of oil and fuel on the site;

f) Details of soil storage and management;

g) A peat management plan, including details of vegetated turf stripping and storage, peat excavation (including volumes), handling, storage and re-use;

h) A drainage management strategy, demonstrating how all surface and waste water arising during and after development is to be managed and prevented from polluting any watercourses or sources;

i) A surface water and groundwater management and treatment plan, including details of the separation of clean and dirty water drains, and location of settlement lagoons for silt laden water;

j) All temporary bridges or flumes to be used during construction shall be hydro-logically assessed to ensure there will be no capacity issues in extreme weather events, i.e. 1 in 200 year design peak flow;

k) Details of sewage disposal and treatment;

l) Details of temporary site illumination;

m) Details of the construction of the access into the site and the creation and maintenance of associated visibility splays;

n) Details of watercourse crossings;

o) Details of post construction restoration/reinstatement of the working areas including construction access tracks, construction compound, storage areas, laydown areas, access tracks, passing places and other construction areas. Wherever possible, reinstatement is to be achieved by the careful use of turfs removed prior to construction works. Details should include all seed mixes to be used for the reinstatement of vegetation;

p) A wetland ecosystems survey and mitigation plan;

q) A felling and tree management plan;

r) Details of diversions for access to core paths rights of way.

(3) The Development shall be implemented thereafter in accordance with the approved CEMP unless otherwise approved in advance in writing by the Planning Authority in consultation with SNH, SEPA and Scottish Water.

Reason: to ensure that all construction operations are carried out in a manner that minimises their impact on road safety, amenity and the environment, and that the mitigation measures contained in the Environmental Statement accompanying the application, or as otherwise agree, are fully implemented.

4. (1) Prior to any works commencing on site, the terms of appointment by the Company of an independent and suitably qualified environmental consultant as Planning Monitoring Officer (“PMO”) shall be submitted to, and approved in writing by, the Planning Authority. The terms of the appointment shall:

a) impose a duty to monitor compliance with the terms of the deemedplanning permission and the conditions attached to it;

b) require the PMO to submit a monthly report to the Planning Authority summarising works undertaken on site; and

c) require the PMO to report to the Planning Authority any incidences of

d) non-compliance with the terms of the deemed planning permission and conditions attached to it at the earliest practical opportunity.

(2) The PMO shall be appointed on the approved terms throughout the period from Commencement of Development to completion of post construction restoration works.

Reason: To enable the development to be suitably monitored to ensure compliance with the planning permission and the conditions attached to it.

5. Prior to any works commencing on site, a Traffic Management Plan shall be submitted to and approved in writing with the Planning Authority Roads Authority and the Police. The traffic management plan shall include;

a) Parking provision for construction workers;

b) The routeing of all traffic associated with the Development on the local road network;

c) Measures to ensure that the specified routes are adhered to, including monitoring procedures and strengthening of weak roads;

d) Details of all signage and lining arrangements to be put in place;

e) Provisions for emergency vehicle access;

f) Identification of a nominated person to whom any road safety issues can be referred;

g) A plan for access by vehicles carrying abnormal loads, including the number and timing of deliveries, the length, width, axle configuration of all extraordinary traffic accessing the site

h) Details of temporary access points and road crossings

The approved traffic management plan shall be implemented in full, unless otherwise agreed in advance in writing with the Planning authority.

Reason: in the interests of road safety and to ensure that abnormal loads access the site in a safe manner

6. Prior to any works commencing on site, a Method Statement shall be produced to limit the spread of American Signal Crayfish. The Method Statement shall assume that all watercourses crossed by the pipe-line will contain American Signal Crayfish and shall detail the following:

a) The washing and disinfecting of all machinery and footwear entering or leaving watercourses;

b) Details of designated areas for vehicle wash-down; and

c) The direction of construction of the pipe-line to progress towards rivers known to be infested.

Reason: to limit the spread of the highly invasive American Signal Crayfish known to be present in the vicinity.

7. Prior to any works commencing on site, a programme of archaeological works shall be submitted to the Planning Authority and agreed in writing. The programme of archaeological works shall include measures to be taken to protect and preserve any features of archaeological interest in situ, to record and recover archaeological features which cannot be so preserved, to afford access at all reasonable times for the council archaeologist or a nominated representative and to allow them to observe work in progress.

The approved scheme of archaeological works shall be implemented in full.

Reason: to comply with Scottish Historic Environment Policy and to ensure that effects are fully mitigated

8. Prior to any works commencing on site, a tree survey shall be carried out, which clearly identifies all trees potentially at risk from construction of the pipeline and associated works, and clearly identifies all trees (if any) to be removed. The aim shall be to avoid removal of mature trees, but where this is considered unavoidable, clear justification shall be provided as to why alternative routes for the pipeline are unsuitable. In such cases, full details regarding the number, location and long-term maintenance of replacement trees should be provided. Where trees are retained, the tree survey should identify how they will be protected from vehicles and other hazards during construction work.

The tree survey shall be agreed with the Council prior to commencement of works.

Reason: to minimise the impacts on any large mature trees.

Definitions

In the decision letter and in Annexes 1 and 2.

“the Application” means the Application submitted by the Company on 14 August 2015

“Commencement of Development” means the date on which development shall be taken as begun in accordance with section 27 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997;

“the Company” means GNI (UK) Limited Registered at 5th Floor, 6 St. Andrew Street, London, EC4A 3AE Company Registration Number 2827969, or the person for the time being entitled to the benefit of the pipe-line construction authorisation;

“the Development” means the development described in Annex 1;

“Environmental Statement” means the Environmental Statement submitted by the Company on 14 August 2015

“the Planning Authority” means Dumfries and Galloway Council;

“SEPA” means the Scottish Environment Protection Agency;

“SNH” means Scottish Natural Heritage;

“Site” means the area of land outlined in red on annex 5, attached to this deemed planning permission.

In accordance with the TEN-E Regulation, Article 9(7) the Company must update the website with relevant information about the project of common interest and also publicise relevant information by other appropriate means to which the public has open access.

Subject to the conditions outlined above and in the letter of determination, available at http://www.energyconsents.scot/CaseDetails.aspx, case reference EC00005198, the Scottish Ministers, by virtue of section 5 of the Pipe-Lines Act 1962, have approved planning permission for the development as set out in the Pipe-line Construction Authorisation. A copy of the relevant Environmental Statement can be obtained directly from the Scottish Energy Consents website as per hyperlink above. A hard copy of this statement, associated determination, and conditions may also may be obtained free of charge during a period of 8 weeks immediately following the date of this publication by contacting, GNI (UK) Limited, Beattock Compressor Station, Lochmaben Road, Beattock DG10 9RL.

The Scottish Ministers’ decision is final, subject to the right of any aggrieved person to apply to the Court of Session for judicial review of the granting of the Pipe-line Construction Authorisation or the conditions attached, no later than 6 weeks after the decision has been published. Judicial review is the mechanism by which the Court of Session supervises the exercise of administrative functions, including how the Scottish Ministers exercise their statutory function to determine Applications for consent. The rules relating to the judicial review process can be found on the website of the Scottish Courts at http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/rules-and-practice/rules-of-court/court-of-session-rules

Your local Citizens’ Advice Bureau or your solicitor will be able to advise you about the applicable procedures.

Kindly quote the correspondent reference in all subsequent correspondence.