Unlocking the Potential of Nigg’s Disused Oil Yard

A redeveloped oil yard at Nigg, Easter Ross, has the potential to provide an average of 800-850 jobs on the site over the next 15 to 20 years, with a further 400 indirect jobs created in the wider local economy and boosting it by £60-65 million per year.

This positive outlook is given in a Development Master Plan, which sets out how best to unlock the considerable potential development and regeneration benefits of the disused oil platform and fabrication yard and surrounding land to the east of the site.

The Master Plan recommends a multi-user industrial facility at the yard, advocating the potential development that will diversify activities at Nigg whilst building on its long-standing reputation within the oil and gas industry.
Along with the continued operation of the Oil Terminal,  one option considers the site being managed by a single owner/operator with a range of industrial activities including IRM, Rig Conversion, Decommissioning, Subsea module fabrication and on and off-shore Renewable Wind Energy. The alternative option looks at a more flexible layout with smaller plots across the site with an emphasis on a Management Company organising the development of the site with a renewable energy focus.

There is significant interest in the development of Nigg for a variety of activities. Consequently there is a need to bring forward an overall framework for the development of the site that would allow short-term needs to be accommodated but without the risk of compromising longer term ambitions for the comprehensive and structured development of the site as a whole.
For this reason, the Master Plan recommends a phased approach to development. 
In a separate but associated development, It has also been confirmed by the Council that KBR, owners of the Nigg site, have given permission to environmental consultants, RPS of Edinburgh, to access the site to survey the land as part of the Council’s ‘due diligence’ environmental monitoring exercise. Until recently, the owners had refused access.

The Master Plan was commissioned at a cost of £50,000 by Highlands and Islands Enterprise and The Highland Council.  It provides a ‘blueprint’ and planning framework on how the site could be developed as a multi-user facility to maximise its potential and provide sustainable employment for the Highland economy. The Master Plan is necessary also to support and underpin action being taken by the Council, as a last resort, to compulsorily purchase the oil yard and then find a suitable new owner or owners.

Councillor Ian Ross, Chairman of the Council’s Planning Environment and Development (PED) said: “This is a very positive report that recognises the potential for capitalising on the prime location and physical attributes of the Nigg site as well as current market conditions and trends.

“The Plan now gives us a very clear vision of how the site could be developed to maximise its potential and provide sustainable jobs for the Highland economy for the next 15-20 years.  This will be fundamental for any consideration of any future planning applications.”

The report will be discussed by the Council’s Planning Environment and Development Committee on Tuesday (23 September).
Once approved by the Council,  the Master Plan will be available for a 12-week period for public consultation. 

Once the results have been analysed, a report will come back to the Planning Environment and Development Committee in March next year.