Salmon Farm Escapes: Threat To Wildlife?

 Articles, Environment  2 Responses »
Mar 182014
 

With thanks to John Robins, Animal Concern.

cut salmon from pixabay comFollowing another mass escape of farmed salmon into the wild the Scottish Government has been asked to ban marine fin fish farms and move all production to on-shore enclosed pond and caged systems.

Such systems pump in seawater which is filtered and returned clean into the natural environment.

In on-shore salmon farming fish welfare is raised and maintained, sea lice problems are eliminated and escaped fish cannot enter the marine environment where they can introduce disease and genetic damage to wild salmon stocks. Land based salmon farmers have no excuse to shoot and kill seals.

John Robins of Animal Concern states;

“Increasingly windy and stormy winters greatly raise the risk of floating factory fish farms being breached and releasing vast numbers of genetically inferior and perhaps diseased fish into the wild. Escapees cause havoc within wild salmon stocks. The only way to protect the marine environment and protect the welfare of farmed salmon is to get this industry out of our seas and into controlled on-shore facilities.

“The Scottish Government must realise it is not actually in the fish farming business and recognise that it has a duty to properly control the industry and protect the marine environment from the many downsides of intensive salmon farming. If the Scottish Government refuses to do this perhaps the companies which insure salmon farms will.”

Below is a copy of our request to the Scottish Government.

Rt. Hon. Richard Lochhead MSP,

Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Environment,

The Scottish Government,

EDINBURGH

Saturday, 08 March 2014

Dear Minister,

I write concerning the news that recent storms have caused the escape of 154,569 fish from a Meridian Salmon Group farm at Ness of Copister in Shetland. The company has also stated that they were unable to reach the farm for a period of two weeks because of the bad weather. Just over two years ago Meridian lost 300,000 salmon in a similar incident at another of its farms in Shetland.

These incidents highlight the very detrimental impact salmon farming inflicts on the marine ecosystem. They also raise serious questions about the welfare of salmon in floating factory fish farms.

Many of the salmon involved in this latest incident will have died from starvation, stress, physical trauma and entanglement in the mesh of the cage nets. Others will starve due to being unfit for life in the wild. Tens of thousands will however survive and compete with wild salmon for food.

The surviving escapees will migrate to rivers and may interbreed with wild salmon thus degrading the wild salmon gene pool.  Many salmon farms rely on medication to control or suppress disease and there is a very real risk of escaped fish transferring disease to wild salmon.

As has been seen over the last few years we are experiencing new patterns of weather including, due to movements in the jet stream, far stronger, more prolonged and more frequent winter storms. Gusts of hurricane force winds are no longer a once in twenty year occurrence but are being recorded several times a year. 

The only way to maintain the welfare of farmed salmon and protect the marine ecosystem from the damage caused by mass escapes of wild salmon is to move salmon farming onshore into self- contained pond and tank units. This was pioneered in Scotland by Otter Ferry Salmon in Argyll and I believe they currently have a very successful halibut farming operation on Gigha using these onshore techniques.  On-shore farming also eliminates the sea lice problem encountered on marine fish farms, avoids the pollution of large areas of seabed and gives salmon farmers absolutely no excuse to shoot seals.  

I urge the Scottish Government to protect our marine environment and maintain the welfare of farmed salmon by legislating to remove all fin fish farms from Scottish waters and encourage the industry to change to onshore tank based systems.

Yours sincerely,

John F. Robins,

For Animal Concern

PS. I find it unlikely that Meridian were the only salmon farmers to suffer loses in recent storms. Can you tell me what salmon farms have reported escapees since October 2013? Please give details including locations and number of fish lost. If necessary please regard this as a request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and/or the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004.

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Anthropomorphism And Murder Most Foul

 Articles, Opinion  No Responses »
Feb 142014
 

The killing of mammals is unacceptable to many people and the debate took a new turn last week with the shooting of Marius after a last supper of his favourite rye bread. By Duncan Harley.

Giraffe duncan harleyDenmark is not getting a great press these days. First there was the furore over the so called “Denmark dolphin slaughter” which filled social media with images of blood soaked seas and led to huge numbers of appalled and disgusted folk commenting on the shocking images before passing them on to others who in their turn also passed them on, often without either further investigation or question.

This week there is widespread indignation about the treatment of a giraffe called Marius who was shot before being fed to the lions in a Copenhagen zoo.

The story was flashed round the world via social media before being picked up by the mainstream media. Note the time frame here, social media first, then mainstream media. Citizen journalism often now leads the pack. The Arab Spring and the killing of Drummer Rigby are prime examples of the new news media.

The ultimate victim however may be truth itself as unverified news stories circle the globe.

The Guardian’s headline “Some rye bread – then a bullet in the head” was one of the more restrained mainstream Marius pieces and pointed out that the dissection of the animal following his last meal was just one of a series of such events held at the zoo. Seemingly the zoo’s programme of public dissection has in the past included snakes, zebras and goats.

Zoo scientific director Bengt Holst defended accusations of animal cruelty by saying “It is important that we explain to people why we do it.”  He continued “People are fascinated by it, it helps increase the knowledge about animals.”

Calls to resign and death threats followed the director’s no doubt well intentioned comments, leading some to wonder if sanity in zoo land could ever return.

The truth of the matter may be somewhat complex however.

In the case of the so called “Denmark dolphin slaughter”,  the Danes may be being unfairly vilified since the killings take place some 814 miles from the Danish capital of Copenhagen and in an automonous self governing island community situated in the Norwegian Sea midway between the UK, Iceland and Norway.

Furthermore, some sources suggest that the ‘dolphins’ in question may not actually be dolphins at all but a species of long finned pilot whale.

The hunt is known as the grindadráp and is a centuries old tradition carried out in the Faroe Islands, an island nation overwhelmingly dependent on what the sea can provide. Designed to produce a sustainable and annual harvest, the grindadráp is indeed gruesome however islanders are quick to point out that the hunt is not done for any commercial gain, with the meat being solely distributed amongst the local community.

A Faroese islander living in Aberdeen commented that the old and the poor receive most of this harvest.

“The Faroese are a very close community” she said

“we take very good care to ensure that everyone gets a share”

“Nothing is wasted, what is not used immediately is frozen for the winter season.”

With a population of just over 21,000 people the Faroe islanders claim that they rely on the sea harvest to supplement a meagre land based agricultural system. With an estimated 0.1% of the global population of pilot whales being killed each year the hunt is considered to be sustainable according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

The morality of the hunt can of course be questioned, however the claims by the Faroese regarding their commitment to community and sustainability looks reasonably sound. It is a gruesome activity of course and the “Cove” like images of a blood red sea cause offence to many.

How to get to the zoo

How to get to the zoo

The islanders have claimed that they have strictly enforced laws designed to prevent unnecessary suffering during what they see as an annual harvest. The grindadráp seems to them acceptable, especially when contrasted with the daily slaughter of tens of thousands of cows, pigs, sheep and chickens in the rest of Europe.

As for Marius the giraffe, biologists routinely dissect frogs, rats, sharks, and cats in comparative anatomy classes to learn about animal anatomy.

Medical students are similarly trained and when you next visit a GP it may be useful to consider the fact that his or her care of your condition may depend entirely on a good understanding of the anatomy of the human body.

However, yet again, the morality can of course be questioned and the truth of the matter may be slightly different from the mainstream media portrayal.

The Danish newspaper Berlingske Tidende wasted no time in pointing out the double standards implied in the criticism and even death threats made against the Copenhagen Zoo scientific director Bengt Holst. Pointing out that that the killing and consumption of millions of farm animals in the EEC each year went largely unchallenged amongst the meat eaters in Europe, the papers readers were quick to  comment that:

“Cows, pigs and chickens live their lives in hell  so that we can have cheap meat from the supermarket.”

Which roughly translated reads something like:

“Køer, grise og høns, som lever deres liv i Satans forgård i små bure og stalde med mavesår for at blive slagtet på samlebånd, så vi kan få billig kød fra supermarkedets containere.”

A Dane currently living in the UK commented that most consumers “think nothing of buying a dead chicken which has never seen light” and wonders why the press have focussed on children being able to watch the dissection.

“Surely it was their parents decision to bring them”, She said.

“We take animal welfare very seriously in Denmark and treat our farm animals very well. I don’t really see the difference between slaughtering cows and sheep for human consumption and slaughtering a giraffe for tiger consumption.”

To many, a zoo visit conjures up cosy childhood memories of cute monkeys and ever watchful meercats.

Perhaps though the reality of the local zoo being little more than a breeding establishment with an unromantic focus on scientific endeavour has come as a shock to many folk.

However, although zoo officials may not publicise the fact that the killing of animals is the price of conservation, animals including pygmy hippos, zebra and bison are regularly ‘put down’ as a consequence of breeding programmes. Poor Marius was but one victim of the human instinct to kill to protect a species.

It opens up a whole new debate really.

Perhaps we should thank the Danes for highlighting the issue.

STOP PRESS:

Jyllands Park Zoo has today (13th February 2013)  announced that it too has a giraffe named Marius.

In an almost unprecedented PR disaster the Danish zoo announced:

““We can’t have two males and one female. Then there will be fights,” zoo keeper Janni Lojtved Poulsen told Danish news agency Ritzau. “If the breeding program coordinator decides that he should be put down, then that’s what we’ll do.””

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Animals Need Your Help This Winter

 Aberdeenshire, Charity, Featured  No Responses »
Jan 242014
 

willowsgingerBy Suzanne Kelly.

Most Scottish animal welfare organisations get no government support: the charities must rely on private donations to keep going.

The cost of keeping animals, their food, shelter, heating and care, continues to rise, while the economy shows only modest growth.

Our local charities are not only struggling for donations, but they are also struggling to home animals which are being abandoned at an alarming rate.

Without shelter places, animals such as horses may wind up in the slaughterhouse, and other animals may be put down.

With no end to these problems in sight, help from the private sector is more important than ever. These are some of the organisations that home and rehome animals; your donations, whether goods, food, money or even time will be appreciated.

  • Blaikiewell Animal Sanctuary

Deeside, Aberdeenshire
Website and donation information: http://blaikiewell.com/

Mavis Petrie, her brother Bert, and volunteers take care of “over 60 horses and ponies, two Jersey cows, and six pigs as well as cats, dogs and any other animal or bird that needs a safe place”.  They have been going since the 1970s, but are now facing their biggest challenge. The Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route cuts through the countryside and through Blaikiewell.  This charity has already lost prime grazing fields, and as a direct result faces higher feed costs.

  • Willows Animal Sanctuary

Lambhill, Fraserburgh AB43 6NY
Website;  http://www.willowsanimals.com/
Donate here:  http://www.willowsanimals.com/SupportUs.htm

Willows is home to hundreds of animals, from pigs to peacocks, and lately it has taken on a considerable number of the abandoned horses and ponies that might otherwise have been put down.

Rescues come from all over the UK. Willows’ Animal Assisted Therapy programme is designed to improve the physical, social, emotional, and/or cognitive functioning of the patient, as well as to provide educational and motivational effectiveness for the participant. It has been running for over eight years.

  • Scottish SPCA

Various locations in Scotland, including Aberdeenshire
Website:  http://www.scottishspca.org/
Donate here:  https://www.scottishspca.org/donate

As well as rehoming a wide range of animals including budgies, cats, dogs and equines, the Scottish SPCA investigates cases of animal neglect and cruelty.  There have been recent high profile cases of neglect and abuse in the Grampian area. In some instances animals were in such a poor state that they had to be put down.

The Scottish SPCA relies on the public not only for donations, but also for information about animal cruelty. Their hotline number for anyone with information about possible animal abuse or neglect is 03000 999 999.

  • Mountains Animal Shelter

Forfar, Angus
Website and donation information:  http://www.mountainsanimalsanctuary.org.uk/

Mountains has been going for thirty years and has helped over 600 horses. However, it faces the same struggles as the other organisations, and last year received a blow.  Just after a successful nativity play early in December 2012, thieves broke in and stole goods and cash worth thousands. Even their CCTV system was stolen.

Thankfully no animals were harmed or taken. Its founder, Alan Beaufort Fraser, passed away in 2010 after a lifetime helping animals throughout Europe.

  • Cats Protection League

Various locations in Scotland
Website:  http://www.cats.org.uk/
Donate here:  https://www.cats.org.uk/donate/?b=0 or call 0800 917 2287

This long-established organisation has rehomed thousands of cats and neutered feral strays over the years. As well as donations of money, new and used goods would be welcome for sale in their Aberdeen shop on George Street.

Anyone concerned for the welfare of a domestic or feral cat can call their helpline on 03000 121212.

  • Animal Concern Advice Line

Dumbartonshire
Website:  http://www.adviceaboutanimals.info
Donate here:  https://www.charitychoice.co.uk/animal-concern-advice-line-acal-11179/donate

Animal Concern Advice Line (ACAL)’s John Robins has been an active voice for animals in Scotland for years now; ACAL campaigned actively to save the Tullos Hill deer, and is currently highlighting the shooting of seals and the cruelty involved in intensive salmon fish farming.

ACAL offers advice and assistance and has a great deal of expertise focused on improving the welfare of animals whether wild, domestic or farm.

  • The New Arc

Ellon, Aberdeenshire
Website:  http://www.thenewarc.org/
Donate here:  http://www.thenewarc.org/page_2067122.html

The New Arc recently changed from a rescue and rehoming centre to a rescue and sanctuary. They are no longer taking in unwanted pets, but are to widen their wildlife rescue work. They will still assist with lost and found pets, cruelty and abandoned animals, but will refer unwanted pets to other organisations who may be able to help.

  • Mrs Murray’s Cat and Dog Home

Aberdeen
Website: http://www.mrsmurrays.co.uk/
Donate here:  http://www.mrsmurrays.co.uk/Donate

Mrs Murray’s Home cares for lost and stray dogs and cats, and helps rehome animals whose owners can no longer care for them. Each year 1500 animals pass through their gates, and they depend on public donations and legacies to help them secure each and every one with a happy future.

Any of these organisations will be happy to hear from you, or to explain more about their work. Your financial support, donations of food and/or goods will be welcome.

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Save The Tullos Hill Deer: From Cruel Illegal Poachers

 Aberdeen City, Articles, Environment, Featured  2 Responses »
Jan 162014
 

A £500+ reward has been offered for information passed to the Scottish SPCA leading to the conviction of person(s) involved in killing animals in Aberdeen’s ‘Gramps’ – Kincorth and Tullos Hill. Suzanne Kelly reports.

roe-deer-fawn-picA dog walker on Kincorth Hill made a gruesome discovery when their dog found a severed roe deer leg this week.

The witness who took a photo of the severed limb also found small mounds of an unidentified white powdery substance.

They were able to locate a ranger on the hill and reported their finds. The ranger revealed that a skinned cat had been found on Kincorth Hill as well.

Aberdeen Voice found a second hand witness who claims deer were also illegally slaughtered and dismembered on Tullos Hill earlier in January – and who claims the police attended the scene. In this instance Aberdeen Voice was told ‘the police said five deer had been killed’, and ‘there were legs everywhere’.

A Scottish SPCA spokesperson knew nothing about either event. Clarification is being sought as to whether the City’s rangers informed the police about the Kincorth Hill discoveries, and whether the information was passed to the Scottish SPCA or not.

Tullos Hill made national headlines when Aberdeen City Council pushed ahead with a scheme to plant tens of thousands of trees on this former dumping ground – killing some 36 deer in the process. A previous scheme failed, costing the taxpayer at least £43,800 (not counting the fees paid to experts including C J Piper).

Experts wrote in a Forestry Commission report that trees are unlikely to thrive because of factors including the poor soil matrix and potential for being blown over in high winds. Domestic and industrial waste from decades of dumping is clearly visible in the thin soil where the saplings were planted.

Gorse covered a large part of the hill in the past; it was home to the deer and a variety of birds. With the gorse cover, the deer had some security from predators including dogs and hunters.

Despite the stated wishes of several community councils and a petition signed by thousands, the city pushed ahead with the deer cull, insisting the trees would be destroyed by the deer, and that ‘deer had no natural predators’ – a claim made by Peter Leonard of the City’s Housing directorate, and former Housing & Environment leader, Liberal Democrat Aileen Malone.

Clearly the person or persons responsible for this current spate of animal killings constitute predators, whatever pro-culling proponents may claim.

baby deerThmMalone had prevented two people from speaking against the cull (they had new evidence to bring including the cost of the previous failure) at the committee meeting at which the ‘Tree for Every Citizen Scheme’s’ supporters voted to have the deer shot.

The reason for refusing the delegates from speaking was that Malone had only asked for a verbal report on the issue, and not a written one – therefore stopping any potential critics.

Many on both sides of the issue found this move contrary to the spirit of transparency and democracy.

It is not known how the deer were killed, if the meat was taken for use or for sale, and whether or not dogs were involved. Any such attack on wildlife is contrary to Scottish law, and fines and potential imprisonment could follow a successful prosecution. Anyone who can identify those involved is urged to contact the Scottish SPCA on 03000 999 999; witnesses can remain anonymous.

There are very few deer left in our area following the city’s destruction of over half the herd, estimated before the city’s cull to number 70. There have been indications that illegal dog fighting may also be taking place in Aberdeen city and shire. Anyone with information about dog fighting, the theft of animals, or animal abuse or destruction is urged to contact Police Scotland on 101, the Scottish SPCA, and/or Aberdeen Voice.

When the city and the police have responded to questions put to them about these incidents, Aberdeen Voice will publish an update.

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Old Susannah’s Journal No. 140 – It’s Academic

 Opinion, Satire and Humour  4 Responses »
Jan 102014
 

Voice’s Old Susannah takes a look over the past week’s events in the ‘Deen and beyond. By Suzanne Kelly.

DictionaryTally Ho! Happy New Year!

I trust everyone is happily settling down to the 9-5 routine after having time off for the holidays. The sales continue, despite dire warnings that the city council has to build something to save the retail market. Amazing.

Over the holidays I took a little walk around the Menie Estate; the friendly security guards patrolled in unmarked white vans.  Someone seems to have planted gorse on a footpath or two, and the beautiful entrance gates have been decorated with a rusted-shut padlock and a few boulders.

Having  sealed this gate to the parking lot, the area is further made inviting by more sand and dirt piled up on the sides of the gate, topped with dying squares of loose turf.

Mountain goats will have no problem going around the sides of this gate.

But don’t worry: Aberdeenshire’s Access Officers have been working on improving the situation. Since last March. I’d hate for them to feel embarrassed into enforcing the laws they are paid to enforce. For that matter, the bunds still remain in place; no doubt the council will want to save itself further embarrassment and get this situation rectified sooner rather than later.

As much as I admire the boundary/pushing spirit that BrewDog embodies, I’ll be happy if they can stay away from a new beer fad emerging from whaling –happy Iceland. I’m sure no one will have anything to do with Brugghús Steðja who have decided to make whales into beer. This is apparently been marked as ‘beer for real Vikings’. I personally think it is beer for real  %!£$(@  #!!^&$£ “£$&*£”!# s, but there you go. While most of the rest of the world is trying to eliminate unnecessary cruelty, there are still some nations happy to make a go of making money out of it.

I’ll stick to my BrewDog, many thanks. BrewDog have in the past used a small number of road kill animals for taxidermy; I wasn’t mad about it – but no animals were killed deliberately.  Companies like Stedja are probably why I’ve gone vegetarian again. By the way, congratulations to the makers behind excellent documentary ‘Blackfish’ about the cruelties of Sealand towards orcas and other creatures – they’ve been nominated for a BAFTA.

One of the more charming stories over the holidays was the discovery of mice, wasps and bedbugs in Aberdeen’s schools. I guess this puts the schools on a par with the local hospitals. With recent stories in the news about the state of our schools, dodgy teachers, educational league tables, vocational education and so on dominating local and national news lately, it’s time for some timely definitions.

Left Wing Academics: (modern Eng. phrase; plural noun) Educators with political views less conservative than the views of the ruling Conservative-Liberal Democratic coalition government.

Perhaps home schooling is the only way forward for caring parents who would shield their children from what Michael Gove , Secretary for Education calls ‘Left Wing Academics.’ These sinister figures may tell your children to question authority, and to question the accuracy of what they are given to read. Remember, if something is in print, then it is true – just pick up a copy of the latest Press & Journal, and you’ll be ahead of the class for the latest factual information.

No, the class structure and the elite had no part in the War to end All War

We need to be careful what sort of revisionist ideas are being circulated, and Gove has bravely stood up to left-wing entertainer, Sir Tony Robinson. This left-winger has been involved in archaeology which can lead to an interest in history. If that weren’t left enough, Robinson is an actor who appeared in an anti-war satire.

You won’t have heard of the little-known Blackadder comedy television franchise, but one of its series suggested that World War I might have been in some ways flawed. Gove says: left-wing academics:

 “were using Blackadder “to feed myths” about World War One.” 

Our education supremo went on to display his grasp of history and command of the language as he explained:-

 “The conflict has, for many, been seen through the fictional prism of dramas such as Oh, What a Lovely War!, The Monocled Mutineer and Blackadder, as a misbegotten shambles – a series of catastrophic mistakes perpetrated by an out-of-touch elite.

“Even to this day there are left-wing academics all too happy to feed those myths.”

No, the class structure and the elite had no part in the War to end All Wars, which was the crowning achievement of military strategy. The shooting of shell-shocked, mentally distressed deserters ordered by officers had no class struggle in it at all. Perhaps there were one or two little military awkward moments like Gallipoli, the Allied defeat at the Dardanelles  and all those front line attacks , but a google search on ‘World War 1 blunders’ only got me 949,000 results.  One of the websites had a very left wing slant indeed:

“In Britain alone one third of the male population were casualties. We should learn from these costly mistakes of history so that we will not make similar errors.”   http://hornherald.blogspot.co.uk/2010/01/military-mistakes-of-world-war-1-part-2.html

That kind of talk is no way to get the next generation ready to sign up for the next war, is it?

Robinson told left wing media news agency the BBC:

“I think Mr Gove has just made a very silly mistake; it’s not that Blackadder teaches children the First World War. When imaginative teachers bring it in, it’s simply another teaching tool; they probably take them over to Flanders to have a look at the sights out there, have them marching around the playground, read the poems of Wilfred Owen to them. And one of the things that they’ll do is show them Blackadder.

“And I think to make this mistake, to categorise teachers who would introduce something like Blackadder as left-wing and introducing left-wing propaganda is very, very unhelpful. And I think it’s particularly unhelpful and irresponsible for a minister in charge of education.”

Gove’s people countered:

“Michael thinks it is important not to denigrate the patriotism, honour and courage demonstrated by ordinary British soldiers in the First World War.”

These men both unselfishly do all they can to help their spouse’s careers

So there you have it. On one side, an uneducated, demented man known for his silly clowning around and being the jester to his superior. And on the other side you have Sir Tony Robinson.

So, keep your children away from those left-wing academics. And to help you do so, thankfully we  have the wise words of Sir Ian Wood.

Footnote on Family Values: 

There is a similarity between P&J editor Damian Bates and Michael Gove that I’ll briefly mention in passing. These men both unselfishly do all they can to help their spouse’s careers, and if that isn’t love, then what is? We have seen the factual pieces in the P&J extolling the virtues of Mrs Sarah Malone-Bates’ employer Donald Trump – world’s greatest golf course, world’s biggest sand dunes (well, it’s written on a plaque Trump designed, so it must be true), and a restaurant rated 6/6.

Then we come to Mr Gove’s devotion to Mrs Gove. In testament to her rapier-like wit, she’s been given a newspaper column to write (nothing to do with her husband’s position of course). She’s such an independent, honest woman that she writes under her maiden name, Sarah Vine. This is like the modesty Sarah Malone shows, working for Trump not as Mrs Bates, but as Sarah Malone. Sarah started a wee company to help the  rest of us look as beautiful as she does; and conveniently on Facebook, it has a link to a government Department of Work & Pensions.

According to the Mirror:

“The Department for Work and Pensions’ Facebook page includes a link to Get the Gloss under a post advising how to “dress for success”.

Get the Gloss was co-founded by the Tory Education Secretary’s beauty journalist wife Sarah Vine. It offers products such as Creme de la Mer serum at £230 and Gypsy Water perfume at £130. The website’s beauty expert Judy Johnson also shares her words of wisdom on the Facebook page.

They include:

“The first impression you make with a potential employer is the most important one.”

She adds:

“Make sure your eyes look perky so you don’t look all sleepy – people will hire you more if you look awake! (A good night’s sleep usually helps or a good under eye concealer).”

Labour’s Teresa Pearce expressed surprise that the DWP was suggesting people on jobseeker’s allowance of £71.70 a week could afford such items and accused ministers of being “patronising” and demeaning”.

She added:

“It is a cheap marketing ploy designed to exploit female body insecurities and the anxieties of those seeking work to make a quick profit.

“The reason so many people are unemployed is the lack of available work and not because they need pricey beauty products. Having ‘perky’ eyes won’t change that.” http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/michael-gove-wife-sarahs-beauty-2999455

I wonder if these two power couples, the Mr Bates and the Goves shouldn’t get together?

Want to know what kind of educated citizen is valued and rewarded by Sir Ian? Old Susannah is happy to oblige.

Honorary Doctorate: (Eng. compound noun)  A person whose achievements are so considerable that an institution of higher education confers a diploma on them without their having attended courses.

Think of successful businessmen, model citizens, virile hunters of African game and if you don’t first swoon with admiration you think first of Donald Trump. More accurately, Donald Trump, Doctor of Business Administration (Hon DBA).

Sir Ian, who will be chairing a committee to shape your children’s future, is of course Chancellor of RGU. He conferred this title on the deserving Donald.

Mr Trump’s behaviour in north-east Scotland has been deplorable

Alas! Not all were happy. One disgruntled academic returned his degree to RGU. Dr Kennedy had probably been jealous; Trump had earned lots of money and didn’t therefore have to go through the usual hard work of getting a degree. Kennedy, who is probably some kind of left wing academic like Sir Tony Robinson said at the time:

“Mr Trump is simply not a suitable person to be given an honorary degree and he should not be held up as an example of how to conduct business.

“Mr Trump’s behaviour in north-east Scotland has been deplorable from the first, particularly in how he has treated his neighbours.”

Sounds like envy to me.

Commission for Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce: (Scottish Government Quango)  – Body created one year ago by central government, chaired by Sir Ian Wood “tasked with bringing forward a range of recommendations designed to improve young people’s transition into employment”.

Let’s face it, the real purposes of education are to learn how to pass tests and to learn how to do some task that will make you money. It’s wonderful that Sir Ian Wood will be passing on all of his ethics, philosophical, architectural and cultural skills to upcoming generations. If we stick to vocational education and business studies, we’ll have a better society. I’m sure Sir Ian means to also call for more young minds to study philosophy, ethics, environmental protection, fine and performing arts – but it seems he’s not got round to that yet.

There is coincidentally a skills shortage in the oil industry: this means that you have to pay people more than if you train lots of people up to do specific energy industry jobs. We need to train people how to do manual labour. We also need to train people how to look for tax loopholes. For those of you interested in the vocational training they want to roll out from an early age to your children (presumably there is more time for this now that music, sports and arts have been cut back), here are some details.
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2013/09/7161

Some final thoughts on education:

There are still some people out there who think that the purpose of a good education should be to let children explore all of the arts and sciences and then let them decide where their talents and interests take them.

there are many different views and no religion can claim superiority

There are some who think there is value in learning a musical instrument, in learning how to play, and enjoy physical activity. Still others believe that if you teach a child how to use logic so they know how to frame an argument, weigh up facts for themselves and reach conclusions, you make them better, more informed citizens.

Others believe that the environment and nature should be experienced first hand and studied (perhaps this would have helped the police in the borders who mistook skinned roe deer they found for badgers. NB – I hope the poachers will be caught, but alas, they never seem to be).

Some people believe that studying art and nature will lead to creativity and a sense of aesthetics (I’d like to know where the granite web’s architects studied form and aesthetics).

There are proponents of comparative religious studies, so people can realise that there are many different views and no religion can claim superiority. Some believe that if you teach children about history, they may learn from the mistakes and triumphs of those who came before and learn about their own culture and therefore identity (I wonder where the property developers and obliging Central Government Reporter who will allow  building on the fields by Culloden studied history?).

There are those who feel if girls learnt about the struggles women made in the recent past to be able to vote, to own property and to study, they would be empowered (and then there is the Taliban, who had teenager Malala shot in the head for going to school). And there are even those who believe children studying all of these arts and sciences with the tools of logic and philosophy engrained would build a better, gentler, happier, cleaner world.

Thankfully, all that nonsense will soon be gone when upcoming generations are taught  how to make money and hang the rest.

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The Bloody, Bloody Banks of Loch Lomond

 Environment, Featured, Opinion  4 Responses »
Dec 062013
 

Suzanne Kelly writes about how the Royal Society for Protection of Birds is determined to cull dozens of feral goats – and deny an animal sanctuary the chance to rescue them, and what is going wrong with land management in Scotland today.

Goat2c - Credit Ian Britton - http://www.freefoto.comCulling is a fact of wildlife management (so we’re told). But are we culling all sorts of creatures in Scotland too aggressively?
Are there other alternatives to culling?

Many animal rights charities would point to measures such as fencing, deterrents, rehoming and other means.

But we have apparently seen illegal shooting of seals from private land in Gardenstown without the landowner’s consent, and against the landowner’s stated wishes.

Aberdeen culled its Tullos Hill deer population by 35 or so animals: their records are too contradictory to say exactly how many were shot.

Elsewhere, mountain hares are being persecuted by gamekeepers, and birds of prey are being illegally killed, often suffering agonising deaths from poison or in traps.

Prosecutions for such offences are rare and when there are successful convictions, the penalty is more often than not a fine so low that it is seen by many as just another business expense for the unscrupulous landowners whose employees are engaged in this kind of activity.

The badger cull may top all these instances though for its cruelty, illogic, and potentially inflaming the problem it was meant to tackle. 

“Concerns weren’t only raised about the cruelty inherent in shooting badgers and  about the possibility of leaving many wounded to die slowly from their injuries,  but also about whether or not it would even be effective.” http://www.care2.com/causes/cruel-badger-cull-meets-embarrassing-end.html#ixzz2mdfHCvFj

But surely when a small population of animals can be rescued and rehomed instead of being slaughtered, an organisation such as the RSPB can be relied upon to do the right thing, and not kill where a clear non-lethal option exists? Not at Loch Lomond.

This Gets My Goat

The RSPB want to plant more trees for birds; so far so good. They want to kill feral goats, and have already shot at least 5 at the time of writing. They claim they will continue until March. A huge outpouring of public anger, and threats from the public to withdraw their donations has caused the RSPB to enter into talks: but they are continuing to kill. The BBC reported:-

“Hillside Animal Sanctuary urged RSPB Scotland to halt the cull, which is being carried out to protect Pollochro Woods. The area is viewed as a site of special scientific importance.  RSPB Scotland said it would consider alternative solutions in March, but that the cull will continue until then.

“Along with advisors at Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), the RSPB wants to reduce goat numbers in the area from about 69 to 30. So far, five out of the planned 20 animals targeted during 2013 have been killed. But Wendy Valentine of Hillside Animal Sanctuary said it had offered to give the goats a home for the rest of their lives rather than have them shot.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-25123587

a salmon in a fish farm has an appalling existence

The RSPB’s rebuff of Hillside has created a media and Twitter storm, and it is hoped that the RSPB will see sense and relent.

John Robins of the Animal Concern Advice Line issued a draft letter and list of people to contact, which can be found at the end of this article.  Robins said:-

“Scotland for Animals is heavily involved in the negotiations to save the goats and they tell me that it is also important to lobby the Forestry Commission and Government agency Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH).  It does not surprise me that SNH is involved in this.

“SNH has developed what can only be described as a culling compulsion and is intent on slaughtering tens of thousands of deer and grey squirrels. They were also responsible for the culling of hedgehogs in the Hebrides and supported the culling of the colony of wild wallabies on an island in Loch Lomond.” 

Hillside wrote to its supporters saying:

“Following our plea for help in our last email to you, we would like to thank all of our supporters who inundated the RSPB to voice their dissatisfaction about the culling.  The RSPB have responded today by contacting us requesting a meeting but HAVE NOT AGREED to stop killing the goats at Loch Lomond.

“Please can you help us save the lives of these popular goats by contacting the RSPB and asking them to let Hillside give them a safe home.  You can do this by contacting RSPB CEO, Mike Clarke on the following email address…  Mike.Clarke@rspb.org.uk“

The RSPB were faced with public outcry when details of the goat cull were exposed.  They issued a statement claiming they tried to seek alternatives, and claimed they were in touch with the British Feral Goat Research Group, claiming:-

“We have never been opposed to the relocation of the goats and, in fact, we sought a proposal for relocation from the Feral Goat Research Group when we were drawing up the herbivore management plan for the site in 2012, though unfortunately none was forthcoming.” – email to S Kelly of 4 December (more on BFGRG here:  http://www.britishferalgoat.org.uk/aims.shtml )

As  Private Eye Magazine might say – “Whoops!” When asked to comment the British Feral Goat Research Group answered:-

“Please see our Facebook page for regular updates,..,,we have NEVER stated what has been said, and are pursuing this at present with RSPB” – email to S Kelly of 4 December

The RPSB claims it must go ahead with its current cull, and before allowing any goats to be moved, the RSPB must have assurances the goats’ future welfare will be ensured (presumably this concern for their welfare excludes the RSPB’s own current destruction of the goats).

Wildlife Management and Mismanagement

Who is behind the huge lobbying efforts in Scotland to destroy our wildlife? Fish farms could use better netting to prevent seals from getting to the caged fish. For that matter, a salmon in a fish farm has an appalling existence with barely any room to swim and follow its natural instincts. It is subject to painful attack from flesh-eating sea lice.

Landowners say the SNH population figures are way out of line with reality

Estates that rely on tourist money for shooting want to keep bird of prey numbers down.  The SNH seems determined to turn deer into overpopulating villains, eating everything in sight and has even named the non-native Muntjac species ‘the asbo deer’.

Self-publicist SNH man Jamie Hammond is often linked to stories saying deer are over-populated and must be killed off.

At present, landowners are in a standoff against the SNH. What were originally billed as ‘guidelines’ to landowners for deer population control are set to become mandatory powers. The SNH wants to be able to go onto all private land in Scotland, determine how many deer should be shot, and ensure that the killing is carried out.

Landowners say the SNH population figures are way out of line with reality. Landowners also cite the recent ridiculous advice coming from the SNH that fawns should be shot along with their does to avoid them starving in the winter. Landowners point out that this has always been the way that hunting operates.

Adding to the forces aligned against animals is the news that the Forestry Commission has decided to get into the wind farm business. Precisely how a government entity can simply announce that it has a new function is something of a mystery.

There is also an option to control deer by using birth control measures, but because these are currently expensive and perhaps difficult to administer, no one seems to want even to investigate this option. Amazingly, there are laws preventing people from moving deer from over-populated areas.

Deer5ThmAberdeen City Council nevertheless considered this option when looking at the Tullos Hill situation, but decreed that since up to 50 percent of wild deer can die if tranquilised, the answer was to shoot and kill 100 percent of the creatures.

It seems difficult to understand why a safer form of tranquilisation can’t be found in the 21st century, or why such a law against transporting deer populations for their own good exists at all. It seems as if some form of lobbying shadow group has an anti-wildlife agenda and a strictly pro-tree one.

Perhaps most ridiculously, the Scottish Wildlife Trust now wants to destroy deer in order to meet Government CO2 targets. These arbitrary targets were set rather high, and it is widely acknowledged that pollutants from vehicles, industrial activity and energy waste are among the worst offenders in terms of CO2 production, as well as other forms of pollution.

But Maggie Keegan of the SWT wants to destroy deer, and was quoted in the press in October pushing this concept. Her theory seems to be that deer eat young trees and other plants, so in order for there to be enough trees to lower CO2, simply shoot the deer.

Trees for Life has planted one million new acres of forest, and yet we still haven’t solved our problem. This is because trees do contribute, when mature, but not all that much in the greater scheme of things. Maggie Keegan vehemently denied by email that there is a pro-hunting element to the SWT, but has not answered questions put to her.

If we have indeed planted so much more new forest, and if trees are the answer, then why haven’t we made the targets already? The SWT are also actively culling grey squirrels in several areas of Scotland. It begs the question, what Scottish wildlife can trust the Scottish Wildlife Trust?

It is a bleak time for Scottish wildlife, and it is time for the actions of all stakeholders, particularly government policy makers to be questioned. Perhaps a good start would be to press the RSPB to allow those Loch Lomond goats to be rescued. If people were to hold to account those behind the culls, boycotting charities when they cross lines such as this one, it might help to turn the tide.

But at present it seems as if financial interests, the hunting lobbyists, business interests and the evangelical desire to plant trees, often for their commercial value, at the expense of existing wildlife will outweigh animal concerns.

Suggested letter and who to write to from John Robins of Animal Concern Advice Line:

Once again a short, polite e-mail should suffice. Something along the lines of:

“I ask you to take urgent action to bring about an immediate suspension of the goat cull which is currently underway on the east side of Loch Lomond. The renowned Hillside Animal Sanctuary has offered to rehome the goats. Hillside has successfully carried out such operations in the past and the cull should be suspended at least until the offer from Hillside is fully evaluated.

“All those involved in this cull are either directly funded from the public purse or rely on charitable donations from the public to fund their work. The public, including many people who live in the area where the goats are being killed, are opposed to this unnecessary slaughter. 

“Please respect the wishes of those who pay your wages and take action to stop this cull and give serious consideration to the non-lethal alternative which is now available.”

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Old Susannah No. 138: What Goes Around Comes Around

 Creative Writing, Opinion, Satire and Humour  2 Responses »
Nov 212013
 

Voice’s Old Susannah takes a look over the past week’s events in the ‘Deen and beyond. By Suzanne Kelly.

DictionaryTally Ho!  Another exciting, fun-filled, vibrant, dynamic and connectivity-laden exciting week’s gone by in Aberdeen.

Lots of action at BrewDog this past week, with a few tastings, new products, and interesting visitors. I spent some time with my favourite Scottish film director who was there for a bite and a beer.

Earlier in the week a newlywed couple and small wedding party lit the bar up; it was a pleasure to see the happy couple, and all happiness to them

Animal charities Mrs Murray’s Home for Cats and Dogs and Willows threw fundraisers; they and other charities such as Blaikiewells Horse Sanctuary and The New Ark need support as the cold weather, feed costs and animal abandonments all get worse.

This winter will be tough on everyone, especially our older residents and those facing financial hardships.  The VSA can point you in the direction of how to help.

It will be a pretty bleak winter and future for Scotland’s deer.

Scientists are lecturing estate managers on killing does and hinds, and organisations such as SNH (Shootin’ ‘n’ Huntin’ to give it its full title) want to wipe out up to half of Scotland’s deer, much to animal lovers and estate managers dismay. SNH wants powers to turn its deer guidelines into enforceable laws so they can go onto any land they like and demand deer culls.

We did see that coming. Estate managers argue the SNH has its figures wrong and they see firsthand what the deer populations are like, and no additional cull is needed. Who are you going to believe – empire-building, jumped up power-hungry government mandarins, or people who see deer daily? Why the government, of course – when have they ever steered us wrong?

On the other hand ‘Wildlife’ charity (???)  Scottish Wildlife Trust want to wipe deer out in order to help Scotland meet its wholly arbitrary (and very high) CO2 management goals. It’s all those deer driving around in cars on their own rather than taking the bus that’s polluting our air you see.

Between the Wildlife trust charities wanting to blast deer rather than protecting them, and the Forestry Commission wanting to turn forest land into windfarm sites, it’s a wonder we have any wildlife left at all. Deer are also being blamed for the demise of the Capercaillie, the decline of which has nothing to do with loss of habitat, pollution, human activities, fencing, etc.

Also hard up this winter will be our very own Stewart Milne

Perhaps for festive Christmas cards we should replace any scenes of deer in forests with wind turbines, guns, boffins, and Aileen Malone. Funny, you don’t hear that much of HoMalone these days, but rest assured, she is remembered for her work on Tullos Hill, culling deer.

Also hard up this winter will be our very own Stewart Milne. His company is posting a loss (again).

No doubt once people snap up his new houses by the Cove Bay roundabout and electricity substation overlooking the dual carriageway, he’ll be back to his 7 course meals in the Marcliffe (before it is turned into a much-needed office complex instead).

In the news this week, Audit Scotland reports there may be arguments and problems in the council – this shocking claim has caught everyone by surprise. Willie Young will be posing for photos with Callum McCaig for a joint Christmas card, to disprove the rumours of infighting.

At least the current crew of councillors aren’t flogging property off for a song and shutting down needed services like the past lot did. If some people seem to be coming to blows I’m sure it’s actually just good-natured horseplay (although from what my sources tell me, this can get a bit rough).

Of course it is only the elected officials who are the problem; it has nothing to do with staff and officers, who all get along famously.

Finally in the news, Hull has won ‘City of Culture 2017’ over Dundee. The judges had some interesting things to say about the Aberdeen bid, which can be found here. Perhaps a few definitions on ‘lacks cohesion’ and ‘deliverability’ are called for.

Gone with the Windfarm / Storm in a Toilet

No story was bigger though than the Trump Court of Session windfarm trial. It’s even bigger than the Evening Express’ exclusive that city council gardeners are storing tools in the otherwise unused and lockable Union Terrace Gardens toilets. The gardeners gave up their own personal time to help with many events in the gardens held by many groups.

Clearly, the Evening Express and the city council would have preferred them to be doing important things like moving old paint cans out of the loos instead.

it’s in such a poor state those who might want to buy it aren’t allowed in to see it

There has already been a flood of argument on this subject on Facebook, but for those who are worried about the heritage of our city and its listed buildings, perhaps turning an eye towards Westburn House might be a more appropriate way to channel energies for those who are worried about Aberdeen’s built heritage.

This great building is Grade A listed, it’s on the market, and it’s in such a poor state those who might want to buy it aren’t allowed in to see it, which is something of a drawback.

Old Susannah hears the city’s own engineers don’t want to set foot in it either. No word on whether any rakes or paintbrushes are inside Westburn. Perhaps it’s time to take stock of all the listed properties in the City’s care, and get them up to scratch.

Anyway, Trump in his generosity is even willing to selflessly get involved in whether or not Shetland will get more wind turbines; as an American billionaire (or should that be racketeer?), of course his ideas about Scottish energy generation are essential.

As mentioned, that champion of social justice Donald Trump is bravely demanding his rights in the Court of Session. What are his concerns? They can be summarised as:

  • fighting for his right to have his views to sea unspoiled.
  • fighting for his right to stop unnecessary, unattractive overdevelopment at the expense of the environment.
  • fighting against the government helping and advising special interest groups achieve their ends.
  • ensuring all existing laws of the land are respected in Scotland.
  • fighting the fact that no-one came to the golf course to see first hand what the visual impact would be of the dreaded offshore turbines.

What a guy. You’d expect such noble aims from a man with his own, brand-new, family crest, wouldn’t you? Anyone suggesting that this is hypocrisy taken to a whole new level is just jealous of Donald.

Word is that Susan Munro is baking him a bund-shaped cake

It would churlish to suggest he, in some way, is getting a dose of his own medicine or his just desserts. It’s time we gave credit to the man for everything he’s done to us – sorry, for us.

Word is that Susan Munro is baking him a bund-shaped cake as a consolation gift, and that David and Moira Milne have invited him up for a drink to look out from Hermit Point past the dying Trump-planted trees to see just how bad the windfarms will be. I may send a bottle of Glenfiddich, if he’s not named Top Scot of the year.

In celebration of all things Trump, and as a gesture of solidarity for the wigged one, Old Susannah considered flying to Africa, killing some water buffalo and elephants, stopping for a few selfies, and flying out again. As there were no suitable private jets with gold-plated taps available, I opted instead for offering a little true or false quiz.

First and Second prize will be a pint of BrewDog; last prize is a pad of genuine Trump logo notepaper, and a photo of Sarah Malone, aka Mrs Damian Bates. Send in your guesses to competition@aberdeenvoice.com.

True or False Quiz

1.  Susan Munro and residents of Leyton Cottage have had their view of the sea removed by a mound of earth Trump plunked yards from their home without any planning permission. No site visit was ever made to consider the impact of the bunds.  This is acceptable.

2.  Donald Trump’s golf course was not visited when consideration of an offshore windfarm miles away was planned and his permission was not sought. This is unacceptable.

3.  No one should have to look at offshore wind turbines when they’re playing a round of £200 per game golf at Trump Golf Links International Scotland.

4.  Trump had advice from government quango Scottish Enterprise worth at least £30,000.

5.  It was completely wrong for the government to give advice to pro windfarm groups.

6.  Trump wined and dined with two First Ministers and Jack Swinney of Scottish Enterprise when he was seeking to build his golf complex at Menie. This did not in any way indicate undue influence for a live planning application.

7.  Trump’s aide was present at the Marcliffe Hotel (beneficiary of the ‘Trump Effect’, soon to be turned into office buildings and its grounds destroyed) when a call was made about Trump’s application to the Shire council, which rightly raised a few eyebrows.

8.  Trump told the media he’d been promised permission for his golf complex by the government; he released this after he had a spat with Salmond over the windfarms.

9.  It was OK for the government and Scottish Enterprise to favour the Trump course. It is not OK for anyone to favour windfarms that golfers might have to look at.

10.  Trump is bringing billions of pounds into our fragile economy, has made us all wealthy, and therefore we should do as he says.

11.  Trump is implicated in the US in racketeering for his ‘Trump University’ scheme.

10.  There is nothing at all contradictory or hypocritical in any part of Trump’s legal actions against the windfarms and the government.

Do send in your entries. In case of a tie, here is the tie-breaker question:-

“I support Donald Trump and all he’s done for Scotland because……   “

We’ll leave it there for now; good luck with the quiz, and next week – more definitions.

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Willows Animal Sanctuary: Halloween Open Day – Sat 26.10.13

 Aberdeenshire  No Responses »
Oct 232013
 

willows halloween event donkeys 2013Willows Animal Sanctuary announce their upcoming open day.

It’s our special Halloween Open day this Saturday. There will be lots of spooky surprises as well as live music, stalls and the gift and coffee shops will be open.

Come along and meet all our beautiful animals and buy some early Christmas presents, decorations, cards and calendars from our gift shop.

The Willows tack shop will be opening for the first time on Saturday. Come along and get some bargains and horsey Xmas pressies.

We have a large range to choose from, headcollars, webbing and leather, bridles, including bitless, grooming boxes and brushes, hats, halters, treeless saddles and much more.

We also have a large range of gifts and toys including Breyer, dvds, games and books.

There will be a secondhand section and horsey raffle too.

Willows is a special place where rescued animals can live their lives in safety and vulnerable people can benefit from animal – assisted therapy.

Lambhill Farm, Strichen, Fraserburgh, Aberdeen, AB43 6NY Aberdeen

Old Susannah No. 131 – Be Still My Heart

 Opinion, Satire and Humour  1 Response »
Sep 062013
 

Voice’s Old Susannah takes a look over the past week’s events in the ‘Deen and beyond. By Suzanne Kelly.

DictionaryTally Ho! It’s been such a pleasant summer in the Deen, and there is no sign yet of the great weather retreating. The Braemar Games are set for this weekend, and it should be another great year for these particularly enjoyable games.

Thanks this week to the brilliant team at Swan Vets for dealing with my ailing cat; they are compassionate, efficient, benevolent and plain speaking.  As such, they are unique in almost any field of endeavour. If only we had more people like this in the public sector (or printed press).  If only everyone respected animals as much.

For instance, things are as bad as it gets for any cetacean life near to Taji Cove, Japan – the Japanese have started their annual slaughter and hunt of these intelligent, family-orientated animals. 

We now know that dolphins communicate on a very sophisticated level; they have identifiable names for individual animals in their pod.

The Japanese however want to slowly butcher these animals (you don’t want to know how slow and painful their death is) – or worse, after being weakened and starved, some are flown (courtesy of Japan Air Lines or China Air) to aquariums around the world. Against this backdrop of unnecessary violence and sadism, India has stood up and passed new legislation against the slaughter and transport of dolphins.

This was an important and bold step; cetacean charities and experts around the world applaud this move. More information here http://www.wdcs.org/

Closer to home, the badger cull continues; science is again thrown out the window, just as it was with the ‘contiguous cull’ which saw millions of livestock destroyed, now admittedly a horrific, unnecessary act of a desperate government.

As pointed out, vaccines were an option; American technology could have seen portable diagnostic equipment used.  Instead, we had massive bonfires and animals often destroyed inhumanely, and completely unnecessarily. http://www.farmersguardian.com/home/news-analysis/foot-and-mouth-10-years-on-culling-was-pure-madness/37404.article

We need to re-examine how DEFRA and other animal/environmental agencies always leap to culling as the solution when vaccination and other remedies to animal-related problems exist and are possible.

There is a poisoning of a bird of prey being reported nearly daily now; endangered, rare species are being deliberately targeted. Given the plight of wild animals in the UK, you’d almost think a powerful pro-hunting/culling lobby existed that pressured these organisations from the outside and infiltrated them, working inside them to make pro-culling policy take precedence.

It must be very gratifying writing these endless pro-city garden project stories

But surely not. As long as you’re not a seal, a badger, an ailing cow which could have been inoculated, a bird of prey or any form of deer, this is a great island to be a wild animal. (I hope to get back to my series on ‘cull of the wild’ soon, but recent developments at Menie and UTG have kept me a touch busy).

It’s also been a confusing week, with free paper Metro reporting a decrease in support for the ‘YES’ campaign, and our very own Evening Express claiming the reverse.  It’s almost as if you can’t believe what you believe in some papers sometimes.

The EE’s chief reporter David Ewen went on an investigative journalism binge this week. He’s broken the story that John Michie, owner of avant-garde chemist Michie’s on Union Street wants to build in the garden. Hard to believe that Michie has come down in favour of such an act; after all there was barely any sign of enthusiasm from him for the previous proposals (except for the frothing at the mouth).

More on this altruistic Aberdeen Journals Ltd. campaign to ‘mend our broken heart’ (ie building something in UTG) shortly.  With his command of economics, city planning, environmental issues and surgical spirit, we’re as good as saved now. He’s of course been on ACSEF for years, a fact that the EE neglected for some reason.

It must be very gratifying writing these endless pro-city garden project stories; I do wonder whether the editor subtly suggests them to his reporters, or if they all clamber to be the one chosen to write more pro web prose. More on that in a moment.

Finally, that poor Mr Cameron hasn’t managed to convince his own MPs let alone Parliament that the best way to help the Syrian people is with airstrikes. In fact there was open hostility when the idea of intervention went to the vote. You could be forgiven for wondering if the LibDem / Conservative coalition has a few stress fractures. But don’t worry, the ever-strategic Ken Clark is coming to Cameron’s rescue.

So, nice weather and nice veterinarians aside, perhaps it is time for some definitions with that.

Military Action: (Mod Eng. compound noun) Waging battle, physical intervention in a problem. (Clearly not waging war of course)

That poor Mr Cameron; he’s going to start wondering who is friends are. All he wanted was a bit of support in the House of Commons from his fellow Torys to help the Syrian people – with a little bit of military action.

Children in Syria are being tortured, starved, orphaned, and recently burnt to death in a school. Old Susannah would love to tell you how this amounts to a ‘civil’ war, or indeed what wars have ever been civil. Over a million people have been made homeless; unknown numbers have been killed, tortured, disappeared.

Clearly what we need to do is bomb them.

Some weak-livered hippies think we need to be sending medical aid, shelter, food, rescuing people and working round the clock for a diplomatic end to this civil war. How disappointing that some of this ilk seem to have got into the House.

Poor Cameron must have been feeling down as dozens of his own MPs voted against him. Luckily, that nice Mr Clarke as come to the rescue. He’s said Cameron was only doing what the Americans wanted him to do by raising the vote.

“Mr Clarke, the Minister Without Portfolio, has disclosed that the Americans “wanted us to make this vote very quickly”. He said that the Government “did not have time” to ensure that it had enough support from MPs to win the vote. “
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/Cameron-told-to-hold-quick-Syria-vote

 Well, the coalition may have lost control of the House, but thankfully, the Americans are still setting the House’s agenda. Phew. For anyone who thinks blankets rather than bombing is the answer (with food and medicine thrown in), more info here. http://www.redcross.org.uk/syriacrisis

Broken Heart Campaign: (modern Aberdonian media propaganda phrase) To make everyone in Aberdeen happy by building something – anything in UTG.

When all is dark, when you can’t get a good VAT deal on regenerating brown field sites (which we have just a few of in central Aberdeen), when billionaires aren’t getting their way by commandeering common good land  for their cronies to manage, who ya gonna call? Evening Express!

Using all of its muscle without a thought of trying to sell more papers or keep its advertisers happy, Damian Bates’ organ is going to mend our broken heart! I didn’t know we had one, but there you go. Shops will fill up – we just have to build in the garden.

Perhaps a train stop makes some kind of sense for accessibility obsessives, but then again, if wheelchair users can get in the gardens now, what is the point.

When we have some specific actual architectural drawings, we can see what they’re on about. These, unlike those pretty web drawings, will show any safety features, HVAC details, and any underground structures (which will be opposed if they alter the park). However much cheerleading Wood, Michie and their pals do, there are just a few minor obstacles to consider.

There will be adherence to EU and UK procurement procedures. Aberdeen City Gardens Trust is not going to automatically get control of so much as a blade of grass: the whole thing is going out to tender (architecturally too, Halliday Fraser  Munro take note).

There will be environmental impact studies. There will be a public design vote with completely transparent results, which will include the chance to vote for improving the gardens, not building in them.

There is a difference between mending a broken heart and fixing something that’s not broken

There will be, unlike the lovely web, something called a project. A project, for the benefit of any ACSEF members still reading, requires a defined scope of the work to be carried out, a timescale for the work, and (sorry ACSEF) a detailed budget which will be adhered to.

There will be no further expenditure by ACSEF or any other quango on propaganda (we spent £125 or so on a photo ‘showing the gardens are inaccessible’ just for openers) and no more public money doled out to consultants (if you want to know more about the half million pounds of public money swallowed so far for this proposed land grab – sorry heart-mending project – is, have a look at  https://aberdeenvoice.com/2012/02/the-great-city-gardens-project-gravy-train/ )

The moral authority of the Evening Express is beyond reproach – or is that beyond the pale? Considering Mrs Bates makes her money from the much trumpeted Trump course which the EE and P&J are always happy to talk up, you have to wonder. Perhaps there is a Bates uncle or auntie on ACSEF? Is it the advertising revenues and the dwindling circulation rate that’s behind this heart propaganda?

I think we should be told (but we won’t be).

There is a difference between mending a broken heart and fixing something that’s not broken. Lower the business rates, start some initiatives to give our talented fashion, craft and arts students and practitioners empty store space to regenerate the town centre, stop building new stores (the mall didn’t exactly help the high street, and a first year economic student could have told us that).

But we need that green space, and what’s more we own it. We don’t need Smith managing it for us. Regenerate the brown field and in so doing stop the urban sprawl.  No open heart surgery required.

One way or the other, EE involvement, ACSEF involvement or not – there is going to be no more cronyism, no more secrecy and no more propaganda. And that’s a shame for a few people. Sorry.

Well, if they’re going to continue with the monomania, so must I.

Next week:  more on recent Trump-related developments, possibly some city of culture bid skulduggery uncovered too…

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Blaikiewell Horses: Salmond Rides In

 Aberdeen City, Featured, News  No Responses »
Jul 122013
 

By Suzanne Kelly.

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As Blaikiewell Animal Sanctuary and Redwing Riding School continue to fight for a fair settlement, First Minister Alex Salmond has weighed in, suggesting the matter be expedited and handled fairly.

The sanctuary for 60 horses and its associated riding school sit in the path of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route; compulsory purchase orders mean they have to find more land.

Finding suitable grazing fields, stabling and habitat for the rescued animals is difficult, much more so when the compensation on offer did not take account of the needs of the sanctuary’s animals. 

Any new site has to offer as much grazing land as the present site; the cost of feeding horses is continuing to increase; grazing over the summer months helps alleviate the costs.

The increases in the costs associated with keeping horses and ponies has led to a nation-wide epidemic of vulnerable animals being abandoned.

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When rescued, animals are often in need of immediate veterinary care and shoeing.

Bureaucrats even threatened to halt last Saturday’s annual horse show, even though they did not need the show grounds.  Negotiations have thus far not reached a compromise.

It seemed at one stage Transport Scotland was trying to treat Blaikiewell and Redwing as simply being a commercial entity; the truth is that Redwing exists to slightly offset the considerable costs of feeding, stabling, shoeing and providing veterinary care to more than 60 horses.

However, there is much public support for Blaikiewell, witnessed by several petitions, local politicians and concerned supporters and Alex Salmond sent a letter of support to Keith Brown, MSP, Minister for Transport and Veterans.

In this letter of 3 July, Salmond asks for Brown’s assurances that:

” …. both Transport Scotland and the District Valuer are engaging fully and properly with Ms Petrie and that all viable options for compensation and relocating are explored.”

Mavis Petrie said: 

“We are very pleased that Alex Salmond is looking into the situation and we will keep him advised of developments.”

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