Socio-economic Baseline Review for Offshore Renewables in Scottish Waters Volume 1: Main Text

3. South West Region

3.1 Introduction

The regional overview for each marine use present within the South West SORER is detailed within this section. These sub-sections, which are arranged in alplanstical order of activity, provide information in a uniformed manner under the following headings:

• Regional Activity;
• Regional Economic Value and Employment; and
• Future Trends.

The activities present within the South West Region are given in Table 67 below.

Table 67. Activities present within the South West SORER

Activity	Present in South West SORER		Regional Trends Available		Future Trends Available
	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No
Aquaculture	√			√		√
Aviation		√
Carbon Capture and Storage		√
Coast Protection and Flood Defence		√
Commercial Fisheries	√			√		√
Energy Generation	√			√		√
Military Interests	√			√		√
Oil and Gas	√			√		√
Ports and Harbours	√		√		√
Power Interconnectors	√		√		√
Recreational Boating	√			√		√
Shipping	√		√		√
Social and Community	√		√		√
Telecom Cables	√			√		√
Tourism	√			√		√
Waste Disposal	√		√		√
Water Sports	√			√		√

3.2 Aquaculture

3.2.1 Regional Activity

Marine aquaculture sites within the South West Region are shown in Figure 34. The figure reveals that there is only one shellfish aquaculture site located within this region. No finfish sites occur are present.

3.2.2 Regional Economic Value and Employment

Regional employment figures for activities relating to marine aquaculture in the South West are listed below in Table 68. The table shows that very few people are employed in this sector within this region.

Table 68. South West employment figures for activities relating to marine aquaculture

Activity	Full-time Employees		Part-time Employees
	2009	2010	2009	2010
Marine aquaculture ( SIC 03210)	10	9	0	5

(Source: ONS, 2011)

3.2.3 Future Trends

No regional detail on future trends were available, please refer to Section 2.2.3 for national projections.

3.3 Commercial Fisheries

3.3.1 Regional Activity

3.3.1.1 Fish catching activities

The South West SORER supports a small local fishing industry. Landings caught by UK vessels within the South West SORER had an average annual value of £17.7 million (4.6% of the Scottish total) and an average annual live weight of 18,100 tonnes (4.2% of the Scottish total) for the ten year period from 2001 to 2010.

Figures 35 to 38 show the annual average value (2001 to 2010) of the total landings taken from within this region, broken down for each ICES rectangle by species group, selected species, gear type and vessel length.

Figures 39 to 41 show the value of all landings caught in the inshore and offshore waters of the South West SORER waters by selected species, gear type and vessel length categories from 2001 to 2010.

The majority of the value and volume of landings from within the South West SORER are shellfish, however, there is a difference between the main species caught in inshore waters (within 12 nm from the coast) and offshore waters (greater than 12 nm from the coast). Inshore, landings of scallops accounted for 92% of the total catch value in 2010 whilst 'other shellfish' (excluding Nephrops) made up 24% of the total catch value. Offshore, landings of Nephrops accounted for 72% of the total catch value in 2010, 9% were scallops and 18% were other shellfish.

In 2010, 11% of the value of landings from inshore waters was taken by vessels 10m and under in length, whilst 18% was landed by vessels over 10m and under 15m and 70% was landed by vessels 15m and over. Offshore, 70% of the total value was taken by vessels 15m and over in length.

For inshore waters, 72% of the total catch value was caught by dredges and 12% by pots; whereas for offshore waters, 54% was caught by Nephrops trawls and 19% by dredges and pots combined.

Figures 42 and 43 show the overflight (surveillance) sightings by vessel type and nationality in the region from 2006 to 2010. 8% of the national fishing occurs within the South West Region, with the majority (80%) being carried out by British vessels using other trawl types. Most of the fishing effort is carried out outside the 12 NM limit.

The main fishing ports in this region are Annan, Drummore, Kirkcudbright, Portpatrick and Stranraer and these are shown in Figure 44.

3.3.1.2 Fish processing activities

There is a high concentration of fish processing activities in Annan on the Northern shore of the Solway Firth. Young's Seafood employ up to 600 people at two sites in the town and these numbers increase in the autumn to cover the seasonal demand for products, especially smoked salmon for the festive season (Liptrott, 2011).

3.3.1.3 Wild salmon and sea trout

There are 2 net and coble and 16 fixed engine netting sites in the South West SORER along the Northern coast of the Solway Firth (see Figure 44).

The main rod and line fishing rivers in this region are the Border Esk, Annan, Nith, Urr, Cree and Bladnoch. The River Annan is one of the best salmon and sea trout rivers in the South of Scotland and the River Border Esk is renowned as one of the best sea trout rivers in the country (Gray J., 2009).

3.3.2 Regional Economic Value and Employment

3.3.2.1 Fish catching activities

The South West SORER is covered by the Ayr administration district, which also covers part of the West SORER and the port of Ayr itself is located in the West SORER. 559 fishermen are employed on 150 Scottish based vessels in this district.

Fisheries dependent employment (which includes direct employment in the fish catching, farming and processing sectors and indirect employment and induced impacts as a result of the demand for goods and services required by the fisheries sector) is estimated to account for between 2 and 10% of total employment (Baxter et al., 2011). In the coastal Travel-to-Work areas of Annan and Newton Stewart the percentage of local employment directly provided by the fisheries sector is between 5% and 10% of all local jobs (Baxter et al., 2011).

3.3.2.2 Fish processing activities

The Business Register and Employment Survey statistics for processing activities in the South West SORER are shown in Table 69. The largest concentration of employment is found in the Annan area with 16% of processing employment.

Table 69. Employment in fish and shellfish processing and retail in the South West SORER

SIC, 2007	Full-time Employment		Part-time Employment		Total Employment
	2009	2010	2009	2010	2009	2010
Processing and preserving of fish, crustaceans and molluscs ( SIC 10200)	863	810	44	87	905	898

(Source: ONS, 2011)

3.3.2.3 Wild salmon and sea trout

There is no specific information on economic value and employment for this region. For a national overview refer to Section 2.6.3.

3.3.3 Future Trends

There is no specific information on future trends for this region. For national projections refer to Section 2.6.3.

3.4 Energy Generation

3.4.1 Regional Activity

There is no specific information on activity for this region. It is not possible to identify the locations where electricity generation occurs within the region, or from where the region obtains its main electricity supply.

For national projections refer to Section 2.7.3.

3.4.2 Regional Economic Value and Employment

Information on regional economic value for energy generation is not available. The connectivity of the electricity grid means that the region cannot be delineated. In addition, data availability on electricity generation and supply is very limited due to security issues.

Direct employment in the electricity sector in the South West Region can be estimated through looking at statistics from the Business Register and Employment Survey. Figures for 2009 and 2010 for full and part time work under several relevant codes are given in Table 70 (note that these figures are likely to represent underestimates of the number of jobs in the sector as a whole, since jobs classified under other SIC codes will also fall within the wider energy generation sector). As shown, the most significant category is electrical installation. There are additionally positions in both production and distribution of electricity. However, although the region does currently have an offshore wind farm (Robin Rigg in the Solway Firth), there are no further sites earmarked for development in the short term as indicated by Figure 45.

Table 70. Employment in the electricity sector in the South West by SIC Code

SIC Code, 2007	Full-time		Part-time		Totals
	2009	2010	2009	2010	2009	2010
Production of electricity (3511)	34	47	0	1	34	48
Transmission of electricity (3512)	0	0	0	0	0	0
Distribution of electricity (3513)	98	92	0	0	98	92
Trade of electricity (3514)	0	0	0	0	0	0
Construction of utility projects for electricity and telecommunications (4222)	0	20	0	0	0	20
Electrical installation (4321)	272	210	19	10	291	220
Totals (note that totals may not sum exactly due to rounding)	404	369	19	11	423	380

(Source: ONS, 2011)

3.4.3 Future Trends

There is no specific information on future trends for this region. For national projections refer to Section 2.7.3.

3.5 Military Interests

3.5.1 Regional Activity

The coastal military locations which occur within this region are shown in Figure 46. Military interests in this region include:

• An MOD Air Traffic Radar facility at West Freugh former RAF station;
• Luce Bay Gunnery and Bombing Range used by the RAF and the Fleet Air Arm ( FAA) (currently protected by Bylaw but under review);
• Kirkcudbright Training Area on the North coast of the Solway Firth providing field fire and dry training exercise;
• Dundrennan official weapon test site, a triangular sea area East of Luce Bay, South of Kirkcudbright at the entrance to the Solway Firth;
• Portpatrick port; and
• A Royal Navy SXA, which extends along the Western edge of this SORER.

3.5.2 Regional Economic Value and Employment

The MOD Quarterly Manning Report (Defence Personnel by location) issued in August 2011, provides the number of MOD personnel (civilian and military) employed in each of the Scottish Local Authority ( LA) areas at 1 July 2011 ( MOD, 2011a). Two of these LAs fall within the South West Region. However, as the LA areas do not align with the SORER boundaries, the values should only be taken as indicative for comparison between areas. The number of MOD personnel in LAs which fall within this region is shown in Table 71.

Table 71. MOD personnel by local authority areas which lie within the South West Region

Local Authority ( LA) Area	SORER*	MOD Total	Civilian	Military
Dumfries and Galloway	SW, E, W	20	0	20
South Ayrshire	W, SW	140	100	30

* Note LAs may occur within more than one SORER. Where this is the case, the SORER containing the largest proportion of the LA (visually assessed) is listed first, and subsequent SORERs contain decreasing proportions of the LA; '&' indicates that the LA ap p.a.s to occupy roughly equal proportions of more than one SORERs.

(Source: MOD, 2011a)

3.5.3 Future Trends

There is no specific information on future trends for this region. For national projections refer to Section 2.8.3.

3.6 Oil and Gas

3.6.1 Regional Activity

The Oil and Gas related activity in this region comprises of a licensed area in the Solway Firth and three interconnector pipelines which take gas across the Irish Sea. There are no producing hydrocarbon fields or hydrocarbon fields under development in this region (Figure 47).

3.6.2 Regional Economic Value and Employment

Given that there are no oil or gas producing hydrocarbon fields in this region, it is not possible to estimate the economic value of Oil and Gas activity in this region.

3.6.3 Future Trends

There is no specific information on future trends for this region. For national projections refer to Section 2.9.3.

3.7 Ports and Harbours

3.7.1 Regional Activity

Stena Line at Stranraer and P&O at Cairnryan have regular sailings to Belfast and Larne in Northern Ireland, providing an important freight and passenger link within this region, tonnage values over the last 12 years are shown in Table 74. Cairnryan shows a fluctuation of tonnages ranging from a p.a. of 3.2 million tonnes in 2005, to a low of 2 million tonnes in 2001. Stranraer has a more even profile with tonnages steadily falling between 1998 and 2005 then remained static at circa 1.1 to 1.2 million tonnes up to 2009, see Table 72.

Table 72. South West Region major port tonnages

Port		1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
Cairnryan	Import	1,272,397	1,244,452	1,135,728	953,364	1,014,591	1,113,000
	Export	1,231,300	1,192,824	1,147,037	1,060,864	1,084,502	1,214,000
	Total	2,503,697	2,437,276	2,282,765	2,014,228	2,099,093	2,328,000
Stranraer	Import	847,349	813,455	764,415	733,116	694,255	684,000
	Export	932,951	876,973	741,522	671,263	578,944	590,000
	Total	1,780,300	1,690,428	1,505,937	1,404,379	1,273,199	1,274,000
Port		2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Cairnryan	Import	1,270,000	1,479,000	1,446,000	1,440,000	1,294,000	1,123,495
	Export	1,579,000	1,795,000	1,699,000	1,723,000	1,633,000	1,448,418
	Total	2,849,000	3,274,000	3,145,000	3,163,000	2,928,000	2,571,913
Stranraer	Import	690,000	630,000	644,000	647,000	634,000	645,595
	Export	587,000	535,000	578,000	584,000	556,000	531,392
	Total	1,277,000	1,165,000	1,222,000	1,231,000	1,190,000	1,176,987

Values shown are annualized import and export tonnages

(Source: DfT, 2010)

In addition to these two major ports, there are a further 10 ports in the region. All ports in the region are shown in Table 73 and in Figure 48.

Table 73. South West Regional ports

Port	Operator	Type
Annan		Trust
Cairnryan	P and O Euro p.a. Ferries (Irish Sea) Ltd	Private
Carsethorn	Nith Navigation Commission	Trust
Drummore	Drummore Harbour Trust Ltd	Private
Garlieston	Dumfries and Galloway Council	Local Authority
Isle of Whithorn	Dumfries and Galloway Council	Local Authority
Kippford		Unknown
Kirkcudbright	Dumfries and Galloway Council	Local Authority
Port William	Dumfries and Galloway Council	Local Authority
Portpatrick		Private
Stranraer	Dumfries and Galloway Council	Local Authority
Wigtown	Dumfries and Galloway Council	Local Authority

(Source: Marine Scotland, 2011a)

3.7.2 Regional Economic Value and Employment

It has not been possible to derive economic values from publicly available data. Employment extracted from the business register and employment Survey by the ONS,(2011) does not present a representative view of employment generated by the ports and harbours industry for this region, it is likely that the majority of employment is captured within the shipping section values for employment, see Section 2.10.2.

3.7.3 Future Trends

Stena Line has invested over £200 million in a new ferry port at 'Loch Ryan Port' situated on the East bank of Loch Ryan. The move from Stranraer will cut down the crossing time to Ireland and will allow the project to regenerate the Stranraer Waterfront to move forward. Loch Ryan Port is anticipated to hand a mix of travel and freight customers, with the addition of two new larger ferries when the port becomes fully operational at the end of 2011. It is anticipated that the development will safeguard and create 1,400 jobs and increase the potential for further investment in Dumfries and Galloway.

3.8 Power Interconnectors

3.8.1 Regional Activity

The only subsea power interconnector in the region is an international interconnector between Scotland and Northern Ireland (the Moyle Interconnector), which originates in Auchencrosh, Ayrshire and connects to Ballycronan More in Islandmagee, County Antrim, Northern Ireland (Figure 49).

3.8.2 Regional Economic Value and Employment

There is no agreed methodology for calculating the economic value of subsea power cables. The capacity from interconnector cables may be used as an indicator of both value and activity ( UKMMAS, 2010) and the capacity of Moyle Ireland interconnector is shown in Table 74.

Table 74. Details of interconnector power cables in the South West Region

Interconnector	Link	Capacity (MW)	Length ( km)
Scotland-Northern Ireland	Auchencrosh, Ayrshire to Islandmagee, County Antrim	500	63

(Source: UKMMAS, 2010).

Further information on employment within this sector is provided by the ONS ABI however the proportion of these employees associated with subsea power cables is unknown.

3.8.3 Future Trends

There are a number of proposed marine power interconnector developments in the UK at various stages of maturity in the planning process. Only one development that may be relevant to this region (e.g. which may pass through this SORER) has been identified, that of the Western HVDC link with a length of 370 km and capacity of 2,000 MW (Saunders et al, 2011; Refabrica website: www.refabrica.com/einter/?page_id=157).

3.9 Recreational Boating

3.9.1 Regional Activity

Sailing activity in the South West Region is shown in Figure 50. The figure highlights that sailing areas occur along virtually the whole of the coastline in this region. There are a large number of medium usage routes within the Solway Firth and the North Channel.

3.9.2 Regional Economic Value and Employment

Marine-related leisure and recreation make a particular contribution to the Scottish rural economy on the West coast and the Hebrides. An indicative estimate of the economic impact of sailing is provided by Scottish Enterprise (2010) and shown in Table 75 below. It must be noted that these values are only indicative as the sailing tourism study regions reported, which are considered to reflect the geography of the main 'sub-national' sailing economies in Scotland, do not align with the SORERs and tend to span various parts of several of the SORERs.

Table 75. Sailing area values and berth numbers for the Clyde sailing tourism region

Sailing Tourism Study Region	Scottish Sea Areas Included	Relevant SORER	Value (£million) GVA	Number of Pontoons	Number of Moorings
Clyde (Clyde Estuary & Solway)	Clyde Irish Sea	Mainly South-West but part of West Region	44	3333	2038
West (Argyll, Ardnamurchan-Gairloch & Outer Hebrides)	Minches & Malin sea Hebrides	Part of West and North West Regions	39	1030	2637

(Source: Scottish Enterprise 2010, Summarised in Baxter et al, 2011)

A report on the economic impact of sailing specifically for the Clyde Estuary area found that expenditure associated with sailing was estimated at £28m annually. Of this, £16.4m was generated by the permanent berth holders and £7.2m by the 2,000 boats using moorings in the area. Including indirect benefits, within the Clyde Estuary, an indicative total impact of £40.7m per year was estimated with a GVA of £12.2m (Scottish Enterprise, 2006).

Regional employment figures taken form ONS are not specific to recreational boating and include all sporting activities and thus are not applicable to this study.

3.9.3 Future Trends

No regional detail on future trends were available, please refer to Section 2.13.3 for national projections.

3.10 Shipping

3.10.1 Regional Activity

The South West coast of Scotland from Solway to the Rhinns of Galloway starts at the most Eastern part of the Solway as low lying shoreline with shallow waters, numerous drying banks and shifting sands. Shipping traffic in the area is minimal with mainly small coastal cargo vessels, fishing vessels and local day boats from the harbours along the Scottish shores of the Solway Firth. As the coast runs West it becomes mainly rocky and indented by bays rising to steep cliffs at the Mull of Galloway, along the Rhinns edging to the North Channel (between Scotland and Ireland) which is dee p.a.d unobstructed for shipping, but experiences strong tidal flow. This is a busy area for shipping with both Northbound and Southbound traffic from the Irish Sea, Isle of Man and English ports transiting around Ireland or Northwards to Scottish ports. The Northern end of this region is the location of the two major ports of Cairnryan and Stranraer, which provide RoRo and passenger services to Ireland. Fishing occurs throughout the area. There are also a number of leisure users who sail between Loch Ryan and the Firth of Clyde, with a smaller number using Loch Ryan as a transitory stop between the Hebrides, the Solway Firth and Isle of Man ( GLA, 2010).

Loch Ryan to Irish port traffic provides an intensity of sea area use, which was at a p.a. in 1998 of around 8,800 vessels arrivals, but has reduced to an average of 4,700 arrivals since 2005. Vessel arrivals are shown in Table 76.

Table 76. South West Regional vessel arrival counts at major ports

Port	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001
Cairnryan	2,083	3,874	4,060	4,403	4,461	3,824	3,352
Stranraer	4,100	4,326	4,420	4,421	3,869	2,984	2,867
Port	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Cairnryan	3,295	2,680	2,651	2,522	2,546	2,540	2,543
Stranraer	2,411	2,347	2,363	2,261	2,232	2,219	2,174

(Source: DfT, 2010)

This region supports a number of ferry routes, all of which link Scottish ports to locations in Ireland, and provide for both RoRo and passenger services. These links provide direct economic trade routes with knock on positive benefits for employment and businesses in the ferry route support chain. The ferry routes are shown in Table 77 and Figure 51.

Table 77. South West Regional ferry routes

ID	Port 1	Port 2	Statistics	Regions
0	Ardrossan	Larne	Yes	Southwest - West
1	Cairnryan	Larne	Yes	South West
2	Stranraer	Belfast	Yes	South West
3	Stranraer	Larne	Yes	South West
4	Troon	Belfast	Yes	Southwest - West
5	Troon	Larne	Yes	Southwest - West

(Source: Marine Scotland, 2011a)

3.10.2 Regional Economic Value and Employment

There is no published information on the specific economic value of shipping to this region. Employment extracted from ONS (2011) shows that employment in the shipping sector is exclusively in the 'Sea and Coastal Passenger Water Transport' classification, with around 300 people in full time employment. It should be noted that a number of employees who work on vessels owned by Stena Line and P&O will be drawn from other locations in the UK and Ireland, and therefore may not be represented by the data.

3.10.3 Future Trends

Future developments in the area that have the potential to affect shipping and navigation are the extension of the Robin Rigg wind farm through an increase in wind farm construction vessels (initially) followed by services vessel movements. Furthermore, the relocation of Stranraer ferry operations to Loch Ryan Port also has the potential to increase ferry services as a result of improved service time and investment in new vessels ( GLA, 2010).

3.11 Social and Community

3.11.1 Regional Activity

3.11.1.1 Demographics

The population of the South West Region is summarised in Image 30 (in pink, with the national figures in blue). The Figure shows that the population of the South West is significantly greater in the older age bands (50-54 to 90+), but is lower than the national average for ages between 0 and 44. The overall average age in the South West Region is 42 years old (three years greater than the national average). The total population in South West Region is 148,000. Some of the significant differences seen may be ex p.a.ned by the relatively small population in this region.

Image 30 Comparison of the Population of South West Region with National Average

(Source: Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics, 2011)

Image 31 shows the change in number of people of working age, pensionable age and children between 1996 and 2010. The chart shows a gradual decline in the number of people of working age (by 4.9%, from 46,100 in 1996 to 43,800 in 2010) and the number of children (by 16.2%, from 15,100 in 1996 to 12,700 in 2010). In contrast, the number of people of pensionable age has increased by 22.6%, from 17,300 in 1996 to 21,200 in 2010.

Image 31 Change in Population 1996-2010 in South West Region

(Source: Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics, 2011)

3.11.2 Regional Economic Value and Employment

Median gross weekly earnings for full-time employees in Dumfries & Galloway were £356.80 in 2001, increasing by 24.2% to £443.10 in 2010. This compares with a national increase of 40% and national average weekly income of £478.39 in 2010. This shows that weekly income in the South West is around 7% lower than the national average.

Table 78 shows employment data by industry sector for the South West. The table shows that the greatest number of jobs are associated with Sectors Q (human health and social work activities) (21% of the total for 2010) and Sector G (wholesale and retail trade) at 19%. Other industry sectors accounting for around 10% of jobs are manufacturing (C) (10%) and education (P) at 9%. Less significant in the South West are mining and quarrying (0.1%) and electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply (0.4%). Agriculture, forestry and fishing makes up 1% of all jobs, while accommodation and food service activities (I) account for around 8%. Jobs in arts, entertainment and recreation (R) make up 2% of all jobs in the South West.

Table 78. Employment data by industry sector in the South West

Industry Sector	Full-time		Part-time		Total
	2009	2010	2009	2010	2009	2010
A. Agriculture, forestry and fishing	249	297	23	187	273	482
B. Mining and quarrying	37	41	1	1	38	43
C. Manufacturing	4,252	4,233	321	379	4,573	4,613
D. Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply	164	171	0	1	164	172
E. Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities	620	410	20	39	642	449
F. Construction	2,023	2,018	192	174	2,215	2,194
G. Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles	4,849	4,741	3,827	4,028	8,679	8,766
H. Transportation and storage	1,594	1,592	427	357	2,018	1,952
I. Accommodation and food service activities	1,721	1,549	2,323	2,064	4,047	3,612
J. Information and communication	374	327	78	99	454	428
K. Financial and insurance activities	415	396	186	141	604	537
L. Real estate activities	391	362	135	124	526	485
M. Professional, scientific and technical activities	1,476	1,492	492	436	1,964	1,925
N. Administrative and support service activities	612	890	546	598	1,157	1,488
O. Public administration and defence; compulsory social security	2,409	2,327	770	735	3,179	3,062
P. Education	1,888	2,153	2,162	2,187	4,049	4,340
Q. Human health and social work activities	4,732	4,597	4,968	5,181	9,704	9,773
R. Arts, entertainment and recreation	471	438	516	590	989	1,028
S. Other service activities	332	279	317	328	651	606
Total	28,609	28,313	17,304	17,649	45,926	45,955

Notes: NOMIS statistics show 0 jobs for sectors T and U

(Source: ONS, 2011)

3.11.2.1 Health

The percentage of the population in Dumfries & Galloway that rated their health as good or very good was 87.3% in 2001/2002, this increased to 88.8% in 2007/2008.

3.11.2.2 Equality

Table 79 presents the results from the index of deprivation for the South West, for all datazones and coastal datazones. There are 51 coastal datazones in the South West Region, 50% of all datazones. The table shows that no coastal zones are in the 10% most deprived across all the indicators. There are only slight differences in the number of coastal datazones in the South West that fall into the most affluent 10%, except for health where only 4% of coastal zones are in the most affluent 10% in the coastal zones compared with 8% overall. The average rank suggests that the coastal datazones are slightly more affluent for education, skills and training, employment and income (even though none of the coastal datazones fall into the 10% most affluent whereas 1% do overall), but slightly more deprived for housing. Overall, therefore, there are a few areas of deprivation in the South West, but none of these are coastal areas. Most of the coastal areas are neither affluent nor deprived, although there are a few areas that fall into the 10% most affluent areas.

Table 79. Index of deprivation for South West

SW	All Datazones
	Overall	Skills, Training and Education	Employ-ment	Income	Housing	Health
Min (most deprived)	225	50	413	100	1057	499
Max (most affluent)	5963	6188	5921	5956	6391	6482
Average	3141	3496	3192	3069	3837	3902
10% most deprived (total)	2	3	2	3	0	2
10% most deprived (as % of all)	2%	3%	2%	3%	0%	2%
10% most affluent (total)	1	4	1	1	4	8
10% most affluent (as % of all)	1%	4%	1%	1%	4%	8%
SW	Coastal Datazones
	Overall	Skills, Training and Education	Employ-ment	Income	Housing	Health
Min (most deprived)	957	1025	817	946	1321	889
Max (most affluent)	5469	6188	5459	5956	6391	6437
Average	3150	3760	3260	3149	3672	3921
10% most deprived (total)	0	0	0	0	0	0
10% most deprived (as % of all)	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%
10% most affluent (total)	0	2	0	1	2	2
10% most affluent (as % of all)	0%	4%	0%	2%	4%	4%

(Source: Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics, 2011)

3.11.2.3 Skills, training and education

There is only one local authority allocated to the South West Region (Dumfries and Galloway), therefore, there is no difference across the region in terms of education and skills. Table 80 summarises data on the percentage of the population with a degree, with no qualification and receiving job-related training.

Table 80. Summary of education and skills in the South West

South West	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
Percentage with a degree	11%	14%	14%	15%	15%	17%	16%
Percentage with no qualifications	17%	15%	14%	17%	17%	16%	11%
Percentage receiving job-related training	29%	30%	24%	22%	27%	24%	21%

(Source: Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics, 2011)

The drive time to a college of Further or Higher Education in the South West Region is estimated at an average of 55 minutes (Dumfries & Galloway).

3.11.2.4 Access to services

As there is only one local authority in the South West, there is no inter-region variation with 94% of household spaces being occupied and 4% being vacant (the remaining 2% being for holiday occupation). Mean house prices in the South West, at £142,512 were around 8% lower than the national average in 2010, see Figure 52. Since average earnings are around 7% lower than the national average, the affordability of housing is likely to be around the average price to earnings ratio of 3.4, possibly slightly lower.

Council house debt in the South West is only available for 2003 (£7,439 per house), with no data from 2004 to 2011. In terms of housing quality, 59% of social sector and 78% of private sector dwellings failed the SHQS between 2005 and 2008, compared with 66% and 69%, nationally. This shows that social sector housing is generally of higher quality than the national average, while private sector housing is of lower quality.

Table 81 shows the mean and median drive time to different services in the South West Region, and the datazones with the shortest and longest drive times, by service type. Access to services is an important indicator in measurements of quality of life.

Table 81. Drive time to services in South West Region

Service	Drive Time in Minutes
	Mean	Median	Shortest	Longest
GP	5.8	4.2	1.2	18
Petrol station	6.8	5.4	1.3	27
Post office	3.9	3.3	1.1	14
Primary school	3.8	3.1	0.9	13
Supermarket	6.7	4.6	1.0	28

(Source: Scottish National Statistics, 2011)

3.11.2.5 Quality of life

The percentage of people living in the South West Region that rated their neighbourhood as good or very good was 59.3% in 1999/2000. By 2007/2008, this had increased to 62.4% (an overall increase of 3.1%), but is a decrease from a high of 66% in 2003/2004.

3.11.2.6 Energy and resource consumption

The average consumption (per household) in the South West Region was 5.8 MWh in 2009 (compared with an overall estimated average per household for Scotland of 5.7 MWh). A reduction in MWh consumed per household of 0.5 MWh was seen between 2005 and 2009 in Dumfries & Galloway.

Table 82 shows the population considered to be in fuel poverty between 2004/2007 and 2007/2009 for the South West Region. The table shows that those households where the highest income earner ( HIH) is 60+ are more likely to be in fuel poverty than the whole population in 2007/2009. At 56.6%, this is higher than the national average of 45.9% for this group. The percentage of HIH 60+ in fuel poverty has also increased between 2005/2008 and 2007/2009.

Table 82. Population considered to be in fuel poverty in South West Region

Population	% of Population in Fuel Poverty
	2004/2007	2005/2008	2007/2009
All	30.8%	36.2%	41.3%
Any disability or long term sick	26.3%	33.5%	31.1%
No disability or long term sick	35.0%	40.7%	45.7%
HIH 60+	47.5%	52.9%	56.6%
HIH under 60	18.1%	23.1%	22.0%
Female HIH	37.4%	44.0%	41.8%
Male HIH	26.6%	31.9%	33.1%

(Source: Scottish National Statistics, 2011)

3.11.3 Future Trends

Table 83 summarises the statistics and trends discussed above to give an indication of the likely future changes by indicator, comparing national with local trends (where data are available). There is much greater uncertainty over trends for the time period of 30 to 50 years and, in both cases, it is assumed that future trends follow recent and historic trends. The table only includes rows for which there are data at the regional level. For national projections where regional data are not available refer to Section 2.14.3.

Table 83. Summary of future trends in South West Region

3.12 Telecom Cables

3.12.1 Regional Activity

One telecommunication cable connects the Scottish mainland to Northern Ireland in this region (Figure 53). Four other telecommunications cables pass through Scottish Territorial Waters within this region connecting Scotland to Northern Ireland and the UK to Northern Ireland and North America (Figure 53), although none of these cables make landfall in Scotland. The approximate landfall locations (note, not necessarily within this region) and capacity of these cables are shown in Table 84.

Table 84. Subsea telecommunication cables in the South West Region

Cable	To/from	Capacity	Length of Cable in Region ( km)
Hibernia 'A' Section A (1&2)	Southport ( UK), Coleraine ( NI), Nova Scotia (Canada), Lynn Massachusetts ( USA)	1.92Tbps	110.9
Lanis 3	NI to Troon	6x565Mbps (3390Mbps)*	42.1
Scotland-N.Ireland 1	Portpatrick (Scotland) - Donaghadee ( NI)	6 x 560Mbps (3360Mbps)	39.0
Scotland-N.Ireland 2	Grivan (Scotland)-Larne ( NI)	565 Mbps	34.0
Sirius North	Ardrossan-Carrickfergus	480Gbps	58.8

* Generic information for Lanis from http://www.iscpc.org/cabledb/North_Sea_Cable_db.htm, assumed applies to each branch

(Sources: http://www.iscpc.org/cabledb/North_Sea_Cable_db.htm; and http://www.cablemap.info/default.aspx)

3.12.2 Regional Economic Value and Employment

There is currently no agreed method for valuing the services provided by cables as they form part of a wider infrastructure. In addition the proportion of these employees associated with subsea telecommunication cables is unknown.

3.12.3 Future Trends

No specific information on future trends for this region was found. For national projections refer to Section 2.15.3.

3.13 Tourism

3.13.1 Regional Activity

Tourist sites in South West Scotland ap p.a. to be more spread out than in other regions, however there are various types of attraction present as shown in Figure 54. South West Scotland additionally has numerous sites for accommodation and camping, both inland and on the coast. Transport and travel are also provided in the region (e.g. ferry services). With regards to wildlife tourism, there are two designated marine Special Areas of Conservation ^[37] , namely; Luce Bay and Sands and Solway Firth. With growing recent interest in ecotourism, it is surmised that these areas may hel p.a.tract tourism to this region, however no current statistics are available.

Although there are fewer coastal and maritime cultural heritage assets in South West Scotland than elsewhere (see Figure 55), thus indicating that there may be fewer opportunities for conflict between tourism and offshore renewable energy generation, the region does have several designated bathing waters. These are concentrated in the Kirkcudbright area, as indicated by Figure 56.

In terms of visitor numbers data from VisitScotland indicate that in 2009, UK visitors made 0.75 million trips to Dumfries and Galloway ^[38] , stayed for 2.6 million nights and had an estimated expenditure of £119 million. In the same year, visitors from overseas made 0.057 million trips, stayed for 1.2 million nights and spent £24 million.

3.13.2 Regional Economic Value and Employment

No information on economic value and employment in tourism which is specific to the South West region has been identified (other than the expenditure figures for Dumfries and Galloway given above).

3.13.3 Future Trends

For further discussion on trends in tourism, see Section 2.16.3 for the national overview.

3.14 Waste Disposal

3.14.1 Regional Activity

The location of open, disused and closed dredge disposal sites in this region are shown in Figure 57. The total area of seabed used for dredge spoil disposal in this region, calculated from open disposal sites, is about 1.6 km ² ( Table 85).

Table 85. Area of seabed covered by open disposal sites in the South West Region

Name of Disposal Site	Area of Seabed (Km²)
North Channel, Scotland	1.558
Drummore	0.017
Drummore A	0.004
Drummore B	0.004
Drummore C	0.006
Total	1.589

(Source: based on Cefas data, 2011)

The dredge spoil quantities allowed to be disposed of under licence at open sites in 2010/11 in this region are shown in Table 86. The table shows that no dredge spoil was actually disposed of at these sites during these licence periods.

Table 86. Licensed and actual dredge disposal tonnage at sites in the South West Region

Origin of Dredge Spoil	Dredge Disposal Site	License Dates	Licensed Tonnage	Actual Tonnage
Old House Point, Loch Ryan	North Channel, Scotland	16/03/10-15/03/11	1472600	0
Old House Point, Loch Ryan	North Channel, Scotland	30/11/10-15/03/11	1472600	0
Old House Point, Loch Ryan	North Channel, Scotland	10/01/11-31/05/11	1472600	0

(Source: Marine Scotland data, 2011a)

3.14.2 Regional Economic Value and Employment

It is not possible to calculate the GVA associated with dredge spoil disposal (Baxter et al, 2011).

3.14.3 Future Trends

The Scottish National Planning Framework 2 (Scottish Government, 2009b) identified future port developments, which may require dredging, including new port developments on Loch Ryan, at Old House Point and Cairnryan ferry ports. The developments will provide additional port capacity and allow the introduction of larger vessels, increased freight capacity, reduced journey times and increased potential for tourism. In addition, the NRIP identified Stranraer / Cairnryan as potential locations to support the manufacturing and operation/maintenance requirements of the offshore wind industry and potentially the installation and/or maintenance of wave and tidal devices. Development of this location to provide this support may also require dredging.

3.15 Water Sports

3.15.1 Regional activity

3.15.1.1 Surfing and windsurfing

No specific surfing or windsurfing locations within the South West Region were identified from internet searches or from the information provided by stakeholder consultees.

3.15.1.2 Scuba diving

Poor visibility generally inhibits scuba diving in the inner part of the Solway Firth although a limited amount of scuba diving is undertaken further West around Luce Bay (Figure 58). No dive centres or dive charter boats and only a few dive clubs operate in this area ( Table 87).

Table 87. The number of dive centres, charter boats and diving clubs found in the South West Region

Facilities	Numbers
Dive Centres	0
Charter Boats	0
ScotSAC Branches	3
BSAC Branches	1

(Source: BSAC ( http://www.bsac.com/); ScotSAC ( http://www.scotsac.com/); and http://finstrokes.com)

3.15.1.3 Angling

The SSACN's Offshore Wind SEA consultation response stated that the Solway Firth in the South-West is used extensively for sea angling, particularly charter fishing. The Dumfries and Galloway region, particularly Luce Bay and the Mull of Galloway, have relatively sheltered waters, good shore access and a variety and reasonable abundance of sea fish.

3.15.1.4 Small sail boat activities and sea kayaking.

Several coastal dinghy sailing clubs are present in the South West Region around Kirkcudbright Bay (Figure 59). Sea kayaking in undertaken in the South West Region although the area is not as popular as some other locations in Scotland such as around Mull and the Firth of Lorn (Land Use Consultants, 2007)(Figure 60).

3.15.2 Regional Economic Value and Employment

The only economic data available within this region was for recreational angling.

3.15.2.1 Sea angling

The majority of the people undertaking sea angling in this region (79%) are visitors from the rest of the UK (Radford et al 2009), who provide an important source of income for the local economy. Sea angling is estimated to be worth about £25 million per year to the Solway area (Scottish Sea Angling Conservation Network, 2010a).

With respect to specialist and competition anglers, Scotland offers the prospect of catching tope in Luce Bay. Tope are worth about £10 million per year to several communities in Dumfries and Galloway ( UKMMAS, 2010). An annual shark 'tagging' event held over one weekend in mid June in this region was attended by about 220 sea anglers in 2010. The event contributed around £41,000 into the local economy via expenditure on bait, food, drink, boat hire etc in 2009 (Scottish Sea Angling Conservation Network, 2010a).

The total estimated sea angling activity, expenditure, number of jobs supported and associated income from sea angling in the Dumfries and Galloway regions (geographically defined as the Local Authority area of the same name; which falls within the South West SORER) was as follows:

• Number of resident sea anglers = 3,224;
• Annual sea angler days spent in region = 233,080;
• 49% of the total sea angling activity was shore angling, while boat and charter activity comprised 32% and 19% of the total respectively;
• Total annual sea angler expenditure = £25.3million;
• 47% of the total expenditure was spent on shore angling; and
• Jobs supported = 534.

As noted previously the ONS employment figures are not specific to water sports or associated activities and in fact include a number of sporting activities, therefore the number of employees directly working in this industry are unknown.

3.15.3 Future Trends

No regional detail on future trends were available, please refer to Section 2.18.3 for national projections.