Commentary on Sections Part 2 – Conservation and Enhancement of Natural Features Notification of sites of special scientific interest Section 9 Denotification of sites of special scientific interest
62.This section provides a process by means of which an existing SSSI (or any part of an existing SSSI) may be denotified. The procedure set out in this section is in essence the reverse of the notification process specified in section 3. SNH must first determine that a site (or part of a site) is no longer of special interest, having applied essentially the same criteria as used for site selection and notification and restated in section 9(3). This includes a requirement to consider the contribution which the site makes to the SSSI series as a whole, both in relation to the natural features of Scotland and to those of Great Britain and of the member States of the European Union.
63.Having determined that the site, or part of the site, no longer satisfies those criteria, SNH must then give a revocation or modification notification to the interested parties in the same way as for an initial notification. In the case of a denotification, however, the information given to the interested parties, rather than detailing the special interest of the site, must set out SNH’s reasons for regarding the site or part of it as no longer being of special interest.
64.Where part only of the site is to be denotified, the interested parties are those individuals and bodies specified in section 48(2) who have an interest in relation to the particular part of the site which is to be denotified. SNH is not required to notify parties who have an interest in relation to other parts of the site only, although section 48(2)(k) gives it power to do so (and to inform other individuals and organisations who are not otherwise interested parties) where it may be appropriate to inform a wider audience of the proposed change. As with enlargement (see section 5), the denotification process is sufficiently flexible to cover scenarios ranging from the denotification of an entire site through to minor adjustments to the boundary of an SSSI.