GREENPEACE must get off Rockall within three weeks or apply for planning permission to live there.

Planners at the Western Isles Council yesterday decided on the get-tough policy after the environmental activists on Sunday proclaimed the rock a new sovereign state called Waveland.

Greenpeace reacted last night by greeting the Western Isles as a neighbouring state and inviting its officials to a site visit.

Three activists have been living on the windswept 70ft outcrop in a yellow watertight capsule since the middle of last week.

The declaration of the new state has left council chiefs distinctly unimpressed.

It could be a hurdle to the development of oil and gas fields west of the islands.

Officials at the council's headquarters in Stornoway admitted yesterday that they had no idea how they would enforce planning laws if the new self-proclaimed owneroccupants of Rockall - almost 300 miles west of the Hebrides - did not comply to their warning.

Council policy adviser John Clark said: "We have a legal duty to enforce planning regulations in all areas where we have jurisdiction.

"Rockall actually comes under the Obbe ward in South Harris. We cannot just ignore breaches of regulations because they are a bit offshore and a bit inconvenient to get to.

"I can confirm that Greenpeace has just 28 days from the date its people moved in to make the necessary application for retrospective planning permission."

Breaches

The island council's chief executive, Brian Stewart, said: "It may be expensive and difficult to take enforcement action. And it seems we will have to look for a window in the weather to arrange a site visit to see for ourselves what breaches of regulations there may or not be."

The hardline approach could even see attempts being made to collect council tax from the new Obbe ward residents.

The council is unsure of the value of the Greenpeace capsule but reckons it may come into band A-the cheapest category-for the purpose of assessing it for council tax.

The islands' authority, the council maintained, was not just being needlessly unfriendly to Greenpeace because the environmental group was taking action against expected oil and gas-related developments west of Shetland and the Hebrides.

There is no doubt there would be an economic spin-off for the Western Isles if multinational energy companies began exploiting areas on their doorstep.

Mr Clark said: "It's just that there are regulations that must be followed closely as far as all planning matters are concerned. We are just doing what we are legally bound to do. "

He also revealed that, if Greenpeace had occupied Rockall some time before the election, his authority may have had to set up a polling booth for them, if the protesters were unwilling or unable to post their votes or nominate proxies.

Rejected

"From that point of view, there may be a considerable saving to this council that they left it until now," he said.

Meanwhile, Greenpeace rejected the Western Isles Council's hardline stance, saying that it did not recognise the council's jurisdiction.

Spokeswoman Sue Cooper said: "We do not necessarily accept that any nation has any sort of development rights and hence planning controls over Rockall.

"We are a neighbouring state to the Western Isles and want to be as helpful and cooperative as we can.

"If the council wants to come on a site visit, we would be happy to arrange it and welcome them to the first capital of the Global State of Waveland."

Obbe councillor Norman Macdonald said he did not agree with the Greenpeace aim of stopping oil exploitation, as the islands needed jobs.

"However, if these protesters become my constituents and go on the electoral roll in Obbe, I would be willing to meet with them, somewhere, to discuss: any difficulties they have with our council," he said.

Greenpeace yesterday also called on all countries having a claim on oil and gas reserves around Rockall to relinquish them for the good of the world. These include Denmark, Iceland, Ireland and the UK.