Criteria
Each application is considered based on it's merits and how well it meets local objectives based on the following plans and priorities:-
- Orkney Council Plan Strategic Priorities - for communities that are:
- Connected - integrating superior carbon-neutral transport with marine infrastructure and development.
- Enterprising – promoting innovative projects that support each other to deliver island services to residents, businesses, and visitors.
- Orkney Local Development Plan - policies and supplementary guidance that
- Facilitate best practice for all island developments
- Support green infrastructure
- Consider the integrity of natural heritage, land and seascapes
- Integrate land and marine planning in coastal development decisions
- Maximise social, environmental, and economic resilience
- Scotland’s National Marine Plan and Pilot Pentland Firth Orkney Waters Marine Spatial Plan and the Orkney Regional Marine Plan (upon 2024 publication) principles to guide:
- Sustainable development in appropriate areas
- Balanced approach to managing human activities with regard for environmental protection and climate change adaptation
- Opportunities for multiple use of marine space by different users
- Involvement and collaboration with partners and citizens
- Orkney Sustainable Energy Strategy - ambitions for:
- Achieving carbon-neutral targets
- Encouraging Orkney’s legacy for energy innovations
- Enabling economic investment that adds value to the wider Orkney community
- Orkney Biodiversity Duties and the Local Biodiversity Action Plan - that address:
- Ecologically unique features and their conservation
- Incorporating biodiversity across Orkney plans and policies
- Investment in natural capital and ecosystem restoration
- Monitoring, recording and sharing findings among commercial, scientific, NGO and citizens’ groups
- Community partnerships that can contribute to national and international objectives
- Regulatory mechanisms that support, mitigate and enforce environmental protection
- Support for education projects and workshops
- National Islands Plan - Strategic Objectives aimed at improving and contributing to:
- Sustainable economic development
- Community resilience
- Environmental wellbeing and biosecurity
- Climate change mitigation/ adaptation and energy security
