Old Susannah – On Hitting A Ton

 Aberdeen City, Articles, Satire and Humour  2 Responses »
May 172012
 

Old Susannah wonders who pulled the trigger on the hill without warning, injects some good stuff into the mix and sings happy birthday. By Suzanne Kelly. 

Brief Deer Update

dictionary
Firstly, a clarification to a recent deer cull story of mine.  Ranger Ian Tallboys wrote to advise he didn’t shoot the deer.  I speculated in this earlier article that it could have been him as a long-serving ranger who wanted the trees planted and who wanted the deer culled, both a matter of record.  But he says he didn’t pull the trigger, so it must be some other long-standing ACC affiliate.

The documents I have are crudely redacted, but some of them certainly point to a person employed by ACC being involved in the cull.  I can’t imagine why the culler doesn’t want to be named as they are so proud of their work and so convinced it needed doing.

We need to know if the ‘expert’ the city kept referring to as insisting killing was the answer was the same person who was paid to do the killing – could be some small conflict of interest issue there.

Could it possibly be this person might have a financial interest in timber / hunting / land management that could be tied to the tree planting and the cull?  It would explain why the city refused to listen to the freely-offered services of an expert who said the deer could have been spared? I would love to know.  And eventually I will.

I am told a certain Mr Nicholson might be able to help with my investigations; we shall see.  I’ve asked Ian Tallboys for an explanation in return as to why there were no signs telling the public a gunman with a rifle was killing things while we were all walking, exercising dogs, playing with families, riding motorbikes on the hill.

The city decided this lethal risk should have been communicated by clear warning signs at each and every entrance to the hill – but no one saw any such warnings.   As soon as I get a response I’ll be sharing it with you.  And my lawyers.

But tally ho!  It was another exciting week in the Deen.  Rosemary from Aberdeen PA threw a great event at the Hilton Treetops where about 100 local businesses displayed what they have to offer from hotels to food to furniture.  Andrew from the Cock and Bull was there with some of his delicious food, Glencraft was on hand, and there were many more people involved than I can mention now.

I suppose a small dose of sarcasm and even cynicism might occasionally sneak into a column of mine now and then.

Sadly I didn’t get to ‘Wildly Unprepared’ comedy improve at the Belmont Cinema this Wednesday – but will try and go next week.  I had another great meal at Café 52, and I had some more IPA is Dead (Challenger) at BrewDog which was delicious – their recent refit means a lighter, more airy space – and more room for beer lovers.

The Nick Nairn Cookery School course I took this week taught by Louise was perfect in every way – more on that elsewhere.

If anyone wonders why I often mention what I’ve been doing and what’s been going on, it is because I am sometimes accused of writing a bit ‘sarcastically’, or in the words of some council people, I am being ‘negative’.  As for the first, I suppose a small dose of sarcasm and even cynicism might occasionally sneak into a column of mine now and then.

But as to negativity, I’d like to think that while I mainly write about kerb-crawling, cash-syphoning City Councillors or megalomaniac builders, billionaires and BiGshots, I also mention good things and people doing interesting projects. Because as well as  billionaires and BiGshots etc, we also have great stuff going on.

BrewDog, Malmaison, Nick Nairn and other unique, talented enterprises thrive here.  Glencraft is still with us, and the Silver City Surfers are still helping people get online– all important, creative, interesting, and going on right here, even without a giant granite web over our garden.   It’s a miracle.  Now that’s cleared up, time for one definition.

Testimonial:  (noun) An endorsement or recommendation, often based on personal experience.  This is a tough one to define; perhaps some examples will be of use –

Aberdeen Voice has been great as a supportive honest voice telling the truth about what has been happening in the area. Exactly what local people need – unlike the mainstream media who always seem to have an agenda that is not always as clear as it may seem. As such, I for one will continue to support Aberdeen Voice in any way I can.

But what do others think?

David Milne,  Menie Resident:

“The Aberdeen Voice has been a stalwart supporter of the anti-Tullos Hill deer cull campaign and without their ongoing support, thousands of caring Aberdonians would be in the dark as to many happenings taking place in our beautiful city. Many thanks to all of the amazingly dedicated people who put so much time and effort into creating such an interesting and informative read, and long may it continue! Congratulations on 100 issues!”

Deb,  Manager at Lush Aberdeen:  (& powerful ally to the Tullos Hill campaign, Willows and New Arc for openers)

“I am delighted to have the opportunity of a) congratulating Aberdeen Voice on its 100th edition – long may it continue to flourish! and b) to put on record how much I enjoy reading about local events that frequently are passed over by the commercial media that have always to consider the interests of those who buy advertising space rather than the interests of readers.

“Too often, in this society of ours, money buys influence.  We have seen that in the Trump Affair at Menie and in the battle to save Union Terrace Gardens against commercial incursions into public amenities.  Conditioning, or brainwashing if you prefer, has led us all to believe that making money is paramount, with human wellbeing coming a poor last.  See what is happening in Greece.  See what is happening to the environment.  It wasn’t always like this and it doesn’t have to be like this.  But to change this trend, independent voices, unswayed by commercial considerations, are essential.

“Aberdeen Voice is beholding to no commercial interest and can boldly support the interests of local people and express their concerns.  It does this admirably. It deserves its expanding readership, and a hearty thanks to its volunteer staff who do such a splendid job.”

David Kennedy – former Principal of RGU:

“Aberdeen Voice is just what it says: news and views from people in and around Aberdeen. At a time when the Press is in the dock over its manipulation of the news and for promoting sectional powerful interests, Aberdeen Voice refreshingly reflects the opinions of those without official authority and so has provided a major platform for free speech for the majority.”

Lena:  (Lenathehyena of http://lenathehyena.wordpress.com/ )

“I’ve only been reading The Aberdeen Voice for the last few months but I’m very impressed by the tenacious way the reporters get their teeth into a story and stick with it. Other community news projects could learn a lot from The Aberdeen Voice. Every town in Scotland needs an independent, campaigning Voice. Here’s to the next 100 issues.”

John Robins,  Animal Concern Advice Line:

“Congratulations on your 100th edition! Kind regards.”

Kate,  Willows Animal Sanctuary:

“Congratulations Aberdeen Voice!”

Chris,  Coordinator, Silver City Surfers:    www.silvercitysurfers.co.uk

“Congratulations to all at Aberdeen Voice on the Centenary Edition! The Silver City Surfers enjoyed reading the article about the service we provide to help those over 55 to learn basic computing in a social setting. Your article was informative, interesting and inviting and we have enjoyed dipping into the internet to read more local articles. Looking forward to the next hundred …  Best wishes to you.”

And there I leave it. However feel free to add your own testimonial in the comments box below.

Happy 100th Issue Aberdeen Voice!

Next week:  return to definitions as usual…

Tullos Deer Cull: ACC Risked YOUR Life

 Aberdeen City, Articles, Featured, News  No Responses »
May 112012
 

Suzanne Kelly reports on the serious issues raised by the modus operandi of Aberdeen City Council with regard to the recent deer cull.

A roe deer fawn born on Tullos Hill 2011. probably now culled by Aberdeen City Council.
It is nearly two weeks since the general public were dismayed to learn that 22 of 29 deer were destroyed to further the ‘tree for every citizen’ scheme which was so vigorously promoted by the Liberal Democrats and a handful of City Officials.
As an indicator of how extremely unscientific this entire project is, it seems that only one deer count was done before the shooting started, and it failed to identify the sex of half of the deer it counted.

The shooting secretly started around 18 February (an early start which needed Scottish Natural Heritage approval), and seems to have continued until the end of the official season. 

It is only now that the general public realise that a gunman was on the hill shooting a rifle:  and that the City took a lethal risk to people’s lives to kill the deer.

This article looks at the risks we didn’t know were being taken with our safety, and recommends the entire matter be made the subject of a city council investigation, possibly with impartial, outside agency involvement.

A document entitled ‘Granite City Forest Deer Management – Risk Assessment’ was obtained some time ago under Freedom of Information legislation.

It can be found at http://suzannekelly.yolasite.com/

This document alarmingly acknowledged that hazards identified included:

  •  “Injury from firearm discharge (either via blocked barrel or obstructed view) when shooting deer;
  •  “Uncontrolled access to firearm(s) and ammunition; and
  •  “Trajectory of bullets beyond target (ie living roe deer) impacting on non target species” (ie anything from small birds and mammals to people).

This document acknowledges that ‘who might be harmed’ included not only those involved in destroying the deer, but also the general public.

Having identified the hazards listed above, the document goes on to answer ‘who might be harmed’ and ‘what harm might result’, although its treatment of the issues is superficial at best.  The harm that might have occurred included ‘Possibility of fatal injuries from misuse of / damage to firearms’.

The main reason no one believed any culling was going on was the complete absence of any notices to that effect being put up.

For some inexplicable reason – which needs to be scrutinised along with so many features of this whole sorry saga – is the absence from the report of many other possibilities, including the obvious risk of non-fatal injuries of many kinds to the general public and ‘other species’.

The control measures sited as risk mitigation are almost laughable – but the real issue is the ‘who might have been harmed’ aspect:  the shooting was going on while people were still on the hill.  This is wholly unacceptable.

You may wonder why I am only highlighting this Risk Assessment document now – the answers are very simple.  For starters, the police were asked on several occasions if they knew of any shooting for the deer cull taking place, and the answer was always no.  Councillors who had asked to be informed of any shooting seem not to have been kept in the loop, either.

But the main reason no one believed any culling was going on was the complete absence of any notices to that effect being put up.  The very first ‘Contingency arrangements required to reduce risk’ item listed in the Risk Assessment is this:

“Cautionary notices will be placed at all known access points to the sites where deer management is taking place.”

No one I spoke with, nor anyone I know who visited the hill regularly (and many went with the specific aim of watching out for culling activities) ever saw a sign or notice to this effect whatsoever.  I was keen to visit as often as possible after dusk, and made many trips (only seeing a deer close up once in a gorse thicket which has now been bulldozed).

The question must be asked – did City officials decide not to erect any signs to keep this unpopular cull secret?  If the answer is yes, then our lives and safety were recklessly risked for propaganda purposes.

We now have to wait to find out what days shooting took place, who posted the notices, how big they were, and where they were posted.  I can promise you that I never saw any, and I have been using four different entrance points, including the main entrance where the Loirston Park sign is.

The City also relied on the expertise of the shooter – but even the best marksmen make errors.  Think of the high-profile American accidental shooting – allegedly by Cabinet Member Dick Cheney of a Mr Whittington.  In the UK, hunting accidents also happen.  Finding reliable statistics is not quite so easy – internet searches for hunting accidents seem to result in the appearance of pro-hunting lobbyists putting up unrelated (and questionable) statistics about damage done by deer.

The Health and Safety Executive seems to lump hunting, forestry and all agricultural accidents into one category – in which there are hundreds of accidents any year.

 These questions need to be answered, and I will be formally calling on authorities to have a comprehensive investigation.

Whatever the numbers are, the presence of a notice of shooting on the hill would have at least let people make an informed judgement as to whether to be on the hill or not.  But just like the consultation on the trees (which deliberately omitted mention of a cull or the cost of the previous failure – or the sheer scale of trees proposed) – someone, somewhere took the information needed for our decision-making out, and hid it.

A sign would not have been much use at dawn or dusk; how could it have been visible? Any sign should have been put up in several languages (Polish and French visitors frequent the hill and a sign in English might have been of no use to such people at all).  But a sign and the requirement for the shooter to be diligent are hardly sufficient mitigation for potential lethal risk.  The shooter is also meant not to hunt ‘…when public, contractors or other ACC operatives are known to be on site’.

This is almost meaningless:  access was not prohibited, the site is massive, and bullets can travel a long, long way.  How could anyone possibly ascertain no people were in the vicinity?

It is one thing to create a Risk Assessment document.  It is quite another for its robustness and completeness to be agreed and for it to be approved.  Who wrote this document?  Who was involved in agreeing it was fit for purpose?  Whose name ultimately went on a document which acknowledged lethal risk?  Were signs used or not?  These questions need to be answered, and I will be formally calling on authorities to have a comprehensive investigation.

A former ghillie I know tells me how very difficult it is to shoot a deer, and in his experience deer were known to be injured severely if not brought down with the first initial shot.  Some wounded deer can completely evade the hunter, and travel great distances before dying in shock and pain of blood loss and internal injury.

Our man from the Aberdeen City Council with a license has been shooting things for over 20 years, according to the risk assessment document; are we to suppose his eyesight has not deteriorated at all in this time period? Statistically if he shot 22 animals, how likely or otherwise is it that each and every animal died instantly where it stood?

  These deer were nearly tame; people who stay in the nearby caravans advise they had fed the deer by hand

Ironically, the deer shooter referred to in the document is also a point of contact between the Scottish SPCA and the city council:  the Scottish SPCA has been opposed to this cull from the idea’s inception.  It is unclear whether the shooter would have been likely to report any bad shots or injured deer he caused to the Scottish SPCA.

The remains of a deer were pointed out to me in an area which had a great deal of tree and plant life – could this deer have not died of natural causes (starvation seemed unlikely amid the sources of food) – but rather could it have been wounded, run away and died of shock, slowly and painfully?  We will have to wait for a FOI request which asked how many shots were fired, and how many animal carcasses were removed.

These deer were nearly tame; people who stay in the nearby caravans advise they had fed the deer by hand and grown food specifically for them.  This makes it even more galling that the Risk Assessment provides for putting the carcasses of these much-loved animals into the food chain.  But that is exactly what happened.  In an almost sarcastic turn, the risk assessment covers the point that the man preparing the animals for food might be at risk of cutting himself on his sharp knives, or sprain a muscle moving the dead animals.

For the record, the level of fatal injury to you or I was calculated to be at the lowest level.

It is likely that Ranger Ian Tallboys, staunch supporter of the cull (although he seems never to have formally proposed a cull before the tree scheme became a political promise) did the shooting and the preparing of the carcasses for meat.  He is about the longest-serving ranger I am aware of, and part of the ‘control measures’ were to have an ‘experienced and competent operative’ perform the shooting.

Tallboy’s current silence on the matter is matched only by his silence over building the football stadium at Loirston in the Special Areas of Conservation area, and the silence of Aileen Malone post election.  Malone was the main proponent of the scheme, often claiming it was ‘cost neutral’ – a claim now completely debunked.

Another person responsible for the whole scheme is Peter Leonard, city council officer, whose original report to the Housing & Environment Committee was the death knell for the deer.  The contents of his report need some urgent investigation; claims of ‘cost neutral’ planting, advice against tree guards, etc. etc. have been shown to be inaccurate if not misleading.

  Only a proper investigation will get to the bottom of the genesis and management of this unwanted, unprofitable, destructive scheme

There are now the correct size tree guards in place – the City initially bought smaller than recommended guards.

Furthermore, the SNH and the City corresponded saying tree guards were unsuitable as they had ‘visual impact’.

What has changed?

Leonard also seems to have had a hand in the disappearance of  Councillor Cooney’s paper on keeping Tullos as a meadowland; Leonard is on record as saying that the meadow would be more expensive than imposing an 89,000 tree forest and killing the deer:  how exactly he reached this conclusion will be interesting to determine; he should be invited to explain how and when his research reached this conclusion, how he reached conclusions in his original report which now seem incorrect, and whether or not he had a hand in Cooney’s paper disappearing from sight.

The actions of some of our officers and unelected city employees seem to have fallen unfailingly into the plans of the Liberal Democrats.

Only a proper investigation will get to the bottom of the genesis and management of this unwanted, unprofitable, destructive scheme, and find out who did / did not overstep the bound of their job, and whether any political (or other) pressure was used to bring us to where we are now.

If you care about the future of Tullos Hill, all of its (remaining) creatures and meadow; if you care about a small minority of persons dictating to thousands who oppose their plans; if you care that tens of thousands of pounds have been spent which could have been better used elsewhere – then please write to your councillors and ask for an inquiry to be held.

The deer are dead – and you and your families were possibly put at risk.  The issues thrown up must be investigated so that there is never a repeat performance.

Election Candidate Hits Out At Deer Slaughter

 Aberdeen City, Featured, News  No Responses »
May 012012
 

A roe deer fawn born on Tullos Hill 2011. probably now culled by Aberdeen City Council.
With thanks to Suzanne Kelly.

A candidate in the Torry/Ferryhill area of the city for City Councillor, has hit out at Aberdeen City Council for the slaughter of 22 Roe deer on Tullos Hill.

Suzanne Kelly  has been researching, reporting on and campaigning against the ‘Tree For Every Citizen’ scheme (a LibDem election pledge) for over a year.

Kelly says:

“The Council are hiding behind new legislation and insisting the deer were overpopulated and had to be culled.  This is a nonsense.  Firstly, the roe deer have lived on Tullos Hill in stable numbers for over 70 years .  Some of those who joined us at the Mock Funeral yesterday grew up with the deer, and are well aware that deer move from area to area.  I want to set the record straight:  there was absolutely no need to try and turn this meadow into a giant forest.  It is the city’s idea to do this against the written wishes of three of its community councils representing tens of thousands of people.

“The idea that this council is so keen to enforce any laws is laughable to people who live here.  We have had overcrowded classes, cuts in services to people with special abilities without proper consultation, higher than EU limit air pollution (Wellington Road), and years of men and women working for the council without equal pay.  A new law, open to interpretation, is no excuse for this long-planned determination of the city to destroy these deer.

The SNH and the City were planning as long ago as November 2010 as to how the public should be ‘managed’ over the cull.

“An initial public consultation for the tree scheme said that rabbit fencing would keep rabbits out.  This consultation was live when – as I proved – the cull had already been planned.  The city did not tell its citizens the trees would be at the expense of the deer, even though they knew it.  

“They knew full  well the scheme would have not passed an honest consultation.  They also never said a massive 89,000 trees would be put on this hill.  People are justly outraged.  The city now feebly claim that ‘the consultation was not about the method’ of the tree-planting.  Explaining that rabbit fencing would be needed is obviously to do with method.  In fact, the SNH and the City were planning as long ago as November 2010 as to how the public should be ‘managed’ over the cull.  This is not democracy:  this is scheming.

“The Scottish SPCA said it was ’abhorrent and absurd’ to kill deer to protect trees that don’t even exist yet.  The Scottish SPCA is very vigilant and effective in my area:  if the deer had been suffering or starving, they would have ordered a cull long ago.  Other animal welfare groups likewise think the deer were fine as they were.  As far as we can tell, there has never been a cull on this hill.  That is because these animals lived in sustainable numbers, and lived only 6-7 years.

“I was not surprised that the police decided to attend our peaceful funeral protest.  However, when they showed up at the Aberdeen branch of Lush where I was to speak later, I was somewhat bemused.

“We tried proving that the soil is scant (there is a Government soil report proving this and showing trees would be likely to topple in the rocky ground).  We tried showing that the public didn’t want this cull or a giant forest.  Since reason, democracy and public opinion didn’t work, we were forced to stage this funeral.

“It was a blow to all of the campaigners when we found out the funeral was not going to be the mock event it should have been.  It is now clear the city was given permission to shoot outside of the normal deer hunting season, and have been destroying these deer since February.

“John Robins of Animal Concern Advice Line, Deb from Lush Aberdeen, and Fred Wilkinson of Aberdeen Voice are three of the people who have helped bring this situation to light and help fight it.   They have the thanks of all the campaigners – who themselves have been amazing.

“Councillor Neil Cooney and I have been trying to promote the idea of keeping the hill as a meadow – we have no idea how much public money has been wasted so far on the trees.  The first batch didn’t take – due largely to weeds – and this cost the public £43,800.  The ‘expert’ who claims the deer must go has a vested interest:  they have been paid £44,000 so far that I know of.  Expensive deer fencing has been installed.   This is in a city with a massive budget deficit.  The whole thing is a disgrace, a farce, and an environmental disaster.

“On my way back down the hill after the protest, I passed huge swathes of land which had been cleared of gorse (home for birds as well as deer).  I remembered seeing in January a deer leap out of a gorse thicket.  The gorse thicket has been destroyed now – and I guess that deer has been shot.    People who live nearby tell me they fed deer by hand on occasion.  What an unnecessary, violent waste.”

Further information:

  • Suzanne Kelly – 07752 356 455     sgvk27@aol.com
  • John Robins – Animal Concern Advice Line     john@jfrobins.force9.co.uk
  • Reports, source material, etc:     http://suzannekelly.yolasite.com/

Healthy Tullos Hill Deer Eradicated By Aberdeen Council

 Aberdeen City, Featured, Information  No Responses »
Apr 272012
 

Deer cull protestors were shocked to learn on 26 April that 22 deer on Tullos Hill have been slaughtered as a precursor to Aberdeen City Council’s controversial tree-planting scheme. A planned protest on Saturday 28 April will still go ahead. With thanks to Suzanne Kelly.

deershotpic
A Freedom of Information Request has revealed that 22 of the 29 deer which roamed Tullos Hill were shot on the orders of Aberdeen City Council.
Despite a 2400-signature petition, over 200 letters of protest and the objections of four local community councils, this cull has taken place.
The council argued that deer had to be slaughtered to advance its Tree for Every Citizen scheme, a Liberal Democrat election pledge staunchly supported by Councillor Aileen Malone.

Initially, a small number of deer were going to be killed each year, but the majority of the herd has been wiped out.

Opponents of the cull and the tree scheme included not only large numbers of local citizens and international objectors, but animal welfare organisations.

John Robins of Animal Concern Advice Line has been a very vocal opponent of the scheme and offered the services of consultants, at no cost, to show the city how to plant trees without a cull. The city refused this and other assistance. The SSPCA said when the cull was first announced that it was ‘abhorrent and absurd’ to kill these deer to protect trees which don’t yet exist.

Those who wanted the deer spared cite the following reasons

  • The consultation on tree-planting made no mention of a deer cull whatsoever, although it did mention rabbit fencing. It did not say that 89,000 trees were going to go on the hill, forever transforming its current meadow ecosystem should they actually grow. The cull was planned in November 2010 and this information was deliberately withheld from the public.
  • The trees are not likely to take. A government soil report says there is little topsoil and trees would be vulnerable to destruction from winds, which have been recorded gusting at over 90 mph. The hill overlooks the North Sea and salt spray is also likely to inhibit growth.
  • The previous attempt saw the city leave the trees unprotected from weeds, reportedly a main cause of the trees’ failure.
  • The city did not buy the recommended larger tree guards in a bid to save money, going against government recommendations for planting.
  • The scheme was, according to Councillor Malone, to be ‘cost neutral’. This is not the case. As well as £43,800 returned to the Forestry Commission for the previous failure, a consultant has been paid over £44,000 to date, and over £400 per day has been spent in recent weeks to clear the hill, a former de facto domestic and industrial waste tip, of rubble.
  • Gorse was cleared in huge quantities from the hill, removing habitat for a variety of birds and small mammals.

Suzanne Kelly, who has been a campaigner against the cull for over a year said,

“There is virtually no-one in this area who wants this scheme. To learn that 22 of 29 deer which roam several different areas in this part of town have been destroyed, despite the stated wishes of the residents, is contrary to the most fundamental principles of democracy,  and it is positively malicious.  We were organising a mock funeral this Saturday at 0930. This will still go ahead. Unfortunately, it is no longer a mock funeral.

“Ms Malone had silenced me and Andy Finlayson from addressing the Housing Committee she chairs; we had both wished to be heard and we represented large groups of people. She used a technicality to prevent open debate then. Ms Malone, I challenge you to a debate now, before the election, in public, at a location and time of your choosing. I will be there. 

“I urge everyone in Aberdeen who loved this hill and its deer, which had roamed for at least 70 years in peace, to think about who you are going to vote for next Thursday. If you support the Liberal Democrats, you are supporting this cull. 

“Finally, please come along on Saturday morning to our funeral protest.  It was initially intended to raise awareness, but now there is a real loss to mourn. These deer have been slaughtered for political vanity. They have not been slaughtered for their own benefit, a ridiculous claim the city seems to think the public will swallow. No-one suggested a cull was needed before the tree scheme came along. At the end of the day, I see this as a tragedy fuelled by ego, greed and money.

“Whatever the election results are, those who sanctioned, approved and carried out this gigantic cull have veritably ended the deer herd on this hill. If they think there will not be a thorough investigation, and considerable public anger, then they are greatly mistaken.

“I decided to run for the City Council in my home area of Torry/Ferryhill largely because of the situation on Tullos Hill. It sadly typifies the city’s disregard for the wishes of its people and its existing environment. If I succeed only in throwing a light on how this situation has been handled, then elected or not, I will have accomplished something.”

Ms Kelly has compiled a report on Tullos Hill, and together with Labour Councillor Neil Cooney, had been trying to save the hill as a meadowland.
The report can be found here: http://suzannekelly.yolasite.com/

Queen Asked To Intervene In Deer Cull Controversy

 Aberdeen City, Information  No Responses »
Apr 262012
 

 The secretary to Animal Concern Advice Line John F. Robins has written to the Queen on the Tullos Hill deer cull issue.

Protestors Deliver A Petition Of Nearly 2,500 Signatures To Cllr Aileen Malone
Her Majesty the Queen has been asked to intervene in a row over a controversial cull of roe deer being undertaken by Aberdeen Council.

The deer are being killed to make way for a tree planting operation under the auspices of The Woodland Trust’s Jubilee Woods initiative to mark The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and ACC’s Tree for Every Citizen project.

Thousands of Aberdonians have signed petitions and written e-mails asking the Council not to kill deer in their names, and it is hoped The Queen, who is Patron of the RSPCA, will not be amused at the thought of the deer being culled in her name.

Aberdeen City Council is killing the deer under advice from Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH). This is the same quango which is putting pressure on landowners, including Her Majesty who owns deer stalking estates in nearby Deeside, to cull large numbers of red deer.

Many estate owners have expressed opposition to what they see as unnecessarily excessive culling targets imposed by SNH, which inherited a policy of mass slaughter of deer when it took over the work of Deer Commission Scotland last year.

John Robins, Secretary of Animal Concern Advice Line states:

“The Queen is Patron of the RSPCA and the owner of large areas of deer forest on her Balmoral and Delnadamph Estates south west of Aberdeen. I sincerely hope Her Majesty will not be pleased to hear that deer are needlessly being killed as part of a project to mark her Diamond Jubilee.

“Aberdeen City Council has refused to listen to thousands of local voters, at least three local community councils, and numerous animal welfare and conservation bodies who are all opposed to the cull. If we can persuade Her Majesty to express concern over this cull perhaps Aberdeen City Council will listen to her.”

For further info/comment please contact John Robins on: 01389841111 or 07721605521.

Below is a copy of the letter to Her Majesty.

, 

Sunday, 22 April 2012
The Private Secretary to
Her Majesty The Queen,
Buckingham Palace,
London SW1A 1AA

Dear Sir,

I write to inform Her Majesty the Queen of a controversial project being carried out in Her Majesty’s name by Aberdeen City Council (ACC) and The Woodland Trust (WT).

The project in question is planting of trees on Tullos Hill, Aberdeen under the auspices of the WT Jubilee Woods initiative and the ACC Tree for Every Citizen project.

On the advice of Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS), ACC are embarking on a long-term culling operation to stop any potential damage to saplings by the roe deer herd which has been established on Tullos Hill for at least 80 years. I am quite sure that Her Majesty and the managers of Her Majesty’s Scottish Estates are fully aware of the controversial and, according to many, unsound nature of the vehement deer culling policy being aggressively promoted by SNH and FCS throughout Scotland.

Much of Tullos Hill is old landfill covered with a thin layer of topsoil. Gases from the buried waste are vented off at the site. Tullos Hill is exposed to the full force of North Sea gales. A previous tree planting operation on the Hill failed for reasons other than deer browsing and, given the nature of the site, it is highly unlikely that, even if there were no deer in the area, any number of trees would survive to maturity.

ACC have refused to employ deer deterrence equipment such as tree protectors and deer fencing to minimise or eliminate deer related tree damage. ACC have also ignored the widespread local opposition to the deer cull. Thousands of people have protested to the Council through petitions, e-mails and letters.

Three local Community Councils have written an open letter to ACC asking for the deer cull to be stopped. Many animal welfare organisations, including the SSPCA and at least one woodland conservation charity, also wrote to ACC condemning the cull.

Tullos Hill has naturally regenerated into a valuable wild flower meadow and in its current state is an important wildlife habitat and community resource for those living nearby.

As these deer are being needlessly culled in a project to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty, we ask her Majesty, both as Monarch and as Patron of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, to intervene and make it known to Aberdeen City Council that they should not be killing the roe deer on Tullos Hill in the name of Her Majesty The Queen.

Yours faithfully,

John F. Robins,

Secretary to Animal Concern Advice Line.

Aberdeen Deer Massacred – Not Culled

 Aberdeen City, Featured, News  No Responses »
Apr 262012
 

With thanks to John F Robins. 

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Further to our release this morning concerning asking Her Majesty the Queen to intervene in the case of the controversial Aberdeen deer cull we have this afternoon received a belated response to a request we made to Aberdeen City Council (ACCO) under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 on 25th March.

The response from ACC confirms that of the estimated 30 roe deer on Tullos Hill ACC have killed 22 animals, all but wiping out the herd. 

John Robins of Animal Concern Advice Line states;

“This is not a cull or a management programme, it is an unjustified massacre of innocent animals which had happily and healthily lived on Tullos Hill for many generations.

“Aberdeen City Council did this despite opposition from several thousand people – the majority of them Aberdonians, a number of animal welfare and conservation groups including Animal Concern and the SSPCA and at least three of the local Community Councils. A great number of Aberdeen City Councillors should hang their heads in shame over what they have done. 

“I hope the people of Aberdeen will remember the dead deer on Tullos Hill when it comes to casting their votes next Thursday.”

Footnote – A protest will take place on Tullos hill this Saturday 28th April – See link: tullos-deer-cull-protestors-to-stage-mock-funeral

Tullos Deer Cull: Protestors To Stage Mock Funeral

 Aberdeen City, Featured, News  No Responses »
Apr 242012
 

A mock funeral protest will take place this Saturday, 28 April, on Tullos Hill, timed to coincide with Aberdeen City Council’s tree-planting day. Campaigners want to raise awareness of the cull, damage to the existing meadow, and the absence of public support for City’s Tree for Every Citizen scheme. With thanks to Suzanne Kelly.

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The contentious decision to plant a tree for every citizen with the majority of the phase 2 trees to be planted on Tullos Hill has caused thousands to sign petitions and four Aberdeen community councils to protest formally against the scheme.

Protestors want to keep the herd of deer and have the trees planted elsewhere. Pleas have been ignored and the Council says that new legislation means they have to cull the deer.

Opponents point out that the deer population moves from site to site in the area, and that other deer will simply move on to the hill. The SSPCA called the plans to kill deer to protect trees which don’t even exist yet, ‘abhorrent and absurd’.

Councillor Neil Cooney, a campaigner to keep the hill as meadowland said,

“My stance is a simple one – Tullos Hill is the wrong place for a mass planting. It could be a great meadow with stunning views across the city. My constituents have no stomach for a cull. A cull is only necessary if you drive through a daft tree-planting scheme in terrain unfit for planting. 

“Why create an unnatural habitat when Nature has done so well to reclaim a tip site?  A typical response I am getting is, “Don’t plant a tree for me if you have to kill a deer in the process.” A cull will hurt a lot of people and do a lot of damage to the reputation of this city.”

Campaigner Suzanne Kelly is standing for election to the Council in the Torry/Ferryhill ward on May 3. The deer cull is an issue which has largely prompted her candidature. Kelly says,

“We have proof the cull was planned and deliberately kept from the public, as there is a letter from Scottish Natural Heritage of November 2010 advising on how to ‘manage’ the public over the cull. We should have been made aware of what the ‘tree for every citizen’ scheme meant for the future of this herd of deer and the existing eco-system of Tullos Hill.

“Many of us want to retain the hill as the meadowland it already is. In fact, meadows are the fastest-disappearing type of habitat in the UK. Furthermore, many of us, and experts, are convinced the trees will not grow. The previous attempt failed due largely to weeds and poor soil quality. 

“The topsoil is scant, and a soil report says any trees will be vulnerable to destruction from wind. It should be enough for the city that thousands of citizens don’t want the trees if it means culling the deer and transforming the hill – but our opinions are nothing to the existing regime.” 

Campaigners will attend a mock funeral for the deer which may have already been culled, or which will be culled, and will come dressed in black or suitable mourning dress.

The events planned for the day so far include

  • Meet by 09:30 at Loirston entrance
  • 09.30 – march on to the hill
  • 10:30 – brief speech on the hill at a planting site
  • 11:00 – mock funeral for the deer

Lush Aberdeen is offering a gift to all protestors and will hold an in-store petition signing after the protest. A Lush spokesperson said,

“’We at Lush Aberdeen believe that there are more ethical alternatives to culling the deer on Tullos Hill. We are not against a tree-planting scheme in its own right, but we don’t want trees planted in our name if an entire eco-system, including both flora and fauna, is destroyed in the process.

“How is this for the betterment of anyone? We urge the Council to listen to its voting public and come up with a more responsible compromise that includes the entirely reasonable requests of its constituents.”

Supporters feel that to plant a single tree on Tullos Hill is to legitimise the culling of a hitherto-stable deer population for the next five to ten years and want to ensure that anyone who plans to help plant a tree on the day knows this.

A speech paraphrasing Mark Antony’s in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar has been written as political satire and it will be read out by Kelly during the funeral.

Additional Information:

  • Suzanne Kelly, email sgvk27@aol.com  tel. 07752 356 455
  • The scheme has been costly so far for one which was originally said to be ‘cost neutral.’  The previous failure cost £43,800 in the form of a payment to the Forestry Commission.
  • A forestry industry company has so far been paid at least £44,000 that campaigners know of.
  • The removal of debris (industrial and household waste) has been costing the taxpayer c. £400 per day for weeks
  • Dumping was endemic for decades all over the hill as well as the nearby rubbish tip.  This tip has signs warning of explosion risk, and was known to contain radioactive material
  • Aileen Malone, now head of the Liberal Democrats, was the main proponent of the scheme, quoted in earlier press releases.

A report prepared by Suzanne Kelly can be found at http://suzannekelly.yolasite.com/ – it contains many government documents concerning the evolution of the cull, how the public should be ‘managed’, and a soil report casting doubt on the viability of the scheme

Animal Concern Action Line has been opposing this scheme for over a year.  Further information from:

John F. Robins, Secretary,
Animal Concern Advice Line (ACAL), ~
c/o Animal Concern, Post Office Box 5178,
Dumbarton G82 5YJ.
Tel 01389-841111.,
Mobile: 07721-605521.
Fax: 0870-7060327.

Animal Concern Advice Line (ACAL) is a recognised Scottish charity: No. SC030982.
E-MAIL: acal@jfrobins.force9.co.uk
Website: http://adviceaboutanimals.info

Old Susannah No. 75 – Olympic Fever!

 Aberdeen City, Satire and Humour  No Responses »
Apr 192012
 

Old Susannah looks at recycled paper in the shape of old news and defines some tricky terms we will all too soon be bombarded with in the run up to the London Olympics.  By Suzanne Kelly.

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What a week it has been in Aberdeen! This was the story everyone was talking about:

DEER FOUND DEAD AHEAD OF ABERDEEN’S CONTROVERSIAL CULL: 

“Animals ‘starved to death’ on tree-planting site” were the headline and tagline which greeted readers of the Evening Express online on Monday 16th April. My phones rang, my email filled up, and Facebook was buzzing with questions from those who saw this ground-breaking news story. ‘How did the deer die? When were they found? How old were they?’ were all questions people wanted answered.

It soon transpired that in the text of the printed news story, anyone who took the trouble to read the piece learnt that the deer died… in 2010. Yes, that’s right, the headline referred to deer which died two years ago.

Old Susannah is happy to say that after a wee chat with the EE’s deputy, a correction was made online (I did ask for something in print, but apparently this is not happening).

I told the EE’s deputy editor that this headline was akin to putting up a headline ‘Titanic sinks’ in a newspaper today. He seemed to think I was equating the loss of all those lives with two deer and he didn’t think that was the right thing to do.

But I happily explained to him that I was making an analogy as to printing old news in a paper, without making absolutely clear in the headline that the news is old. I think he got the idea in the end.

But someone came to the Evening Express ‘on Monday’ with ‘a report’ – which led to the story being written. Hmm. Can we think of anyone who would want people to believe deer need to be culled or they will starve? Someone who might perhaps want to get re-elected, stay in their job, get money for the tree scheme – could such a person be behind this? I think we should be told. I’ve asked the Evening Express and the Council who is responsible for this strange, belated tale. Please feel free to ask them, too.

I’ve told the Aberdeen Voice’s editor that I’m working on two similar stories myself.

The first to be called ‘WOOLY MAMMOTH DIED ON TULLOS HILL IN ADVANCE OF CULL’ – it will explain the hill is too small to support many mammoths, and the mammoth is thought to have died having been hunted to extinction by members of the primitive ‘LibDem’ tribe – ten thousand years ago.

The other story I am working on is ‘EVENING EXPRESS FOUND DEAD IN ADVANCE OF CULL: CAUSE OF DEATH BELIEVED RELATED TO POOR CIRCULATION.’

 The ConDems are proud to present (no expense spared): The 2012 Olympic Games!

Just when you think you have some kind of entente cordial with these guys, they plant the seed in everyone’s mind that deer are starving and that only by killing them can we prevent the tragedy of them dying.  How and why an ancient letter was not only presented to the EE and then turned into a ‘news’ headline is as much a mystery as the stone cairns on Tullos we will soon obscure with dead and dying tree saplings. Sigh.

Perhaps if I send the Eve Express the old letters I have which prove:

a) The cull was long planned and deliberately kept out of the public consultation and
b) The city was chased for not paying up on time the £43,800 it owed to the Forestry Commission, these letters too might be transformed into brand new news stories.

But I don’t think I’ll bank on it. It’s as if someone were playing silly games.

While we are on the subject of silly games (which I just got us onto of course), it won’t be long now until the London 2012 Olympics start! Result!

People don’t want to think about jobs, pensions, pollution, EU scandals, water companies that don’t fix their infrastructure which leads to drought: people want bread and circuses (another thing the Romans ever did for us). Therefore, the ConDems are proud to present (no expense spared): The 2012 Olympic Games! Result!

Let’s look lovingly at some definitions for the Olympics (even if they aren’t going to create as many jobs and as much wealth as our Granite Web will magically do)…

Logo: (noun) – an emblem or design linked to a movement, company or other entity.

You thought the ACSEF logo was brilliant; it was. Well, the boundaries have been pushed; thinking has taken place outside the box, and the beautiful, elegant 2012 logo was launched. It graces everything from chocolate bar wrappers (which I’m sure the athletes gulp down by the case) to chequebooks. Who will ever forget those precisely-formed, joined up ‘2012’ numbers?

The only thing I can think of that was as pretty and chunky was our own ‘Monolith’ design, which sadly won’t be built. Some people say the ‘2012’ lettering looks like it was done by a 9-year-old with a crayon in the back of a car with bad suspension, but this is just artistic jealousy. Whether or not the artistic talents behind the granite web had any input is unconfirmed.

Mascot: (noun) – a character or animal linked to a movement, company or other entity.

The American Olympic Games gave us a cuddly version of the American eagle wearing an ‘Uncle Sam’s hat’. The Moscow Olympics gave us a bear. How very passé.

The greatest British design teams toiled day and night, and have come up with Wenlock and his friends. What better way to sum up what our collective of nations is all about than a long, thin blob thing with a giant bloodshot eye on the top of it? I don’t know what it is – do you know what it is? Would you have this thing in your house?

Why would you buy one? Again – what the heck is it? I am sorry I started down the path of trying to define Wenlock – and think I’d best forget about his other little friends, too.

Commemorative stamps: (noun) a postal stamp or set of stamps issued to mark an historic event, occasion, person or place of importance.

Elvis had a stamp. The Beatles had a set of stamps. And now for the first time in recorded history – we will get a brand new stamp issued instantly every time a British Athlete wins a Gold Medal.  That’s going to be an awful lot of stamps I can tell you.

I intend to camp out at my post office with a portable tv so I can watch the women’s 25 meter tag shotput heptathalon event, and be the first person in Torry to get the Gold medal stamp. I trust you are all as excited about this development as I am.

The only thing I found more exciting is that it will soon cost £0.60 each time I want to send a first class letter. That is presuming whatever envelope I want to use can fit through that silly little guide thing they now have – kind of like a version of ‘The Wall’ for envelopes instead of people. Perhaps ‘The Wall’ should be an Olympic event?

Poetry Parnassus: (noun – modern English) – an event invented for the 2012 Olympics so that intellectuals will feel part of the whole wonderful Olympic thing, too.

This is the concept (although there aren’t enough poets yet – volunteers should call the Olympic HQ): there will be a helicopter drop of 100,000 poems printed on bookmark size paper onto the happy Olympic fans. Result! This will apparently take half an hour. I can’t decide whether to get down to London for this and then find a post office to wait at for the first Gold Medal Stamp or not.

I’m afraid all this Olympic excitement has overtired me. Otherwise I could have reminded everyone of the story of Native American, Jim Thorpe. Thorpe was perhaps the greatest athlete the modern Olympics ever knew. He won everything. Decathlon, everything – it was a great triumph and he fought a great deal of discrimination to get that far.

But it turned out he had once been paid for playing ball – and so was theoretically a professional. All of his medals were stripped away by our always-honest and rule-abiding Olympic authorities. However, his accomplishments still stand.

Today’s athletes have been known to endorse products, be paid professionals, and to use the occasional ‘enhancer’. But for me, none of them could hold a candle to Thorpe. Must remember to tell you about him sometime.

Next week: Election round up – and news flash! Ancient Pictish/Celtic warrior found dead on Tullos ahead of cull!

Old Susannah No. 74 – Election Special

 Aberdeen City, Satire and Humour  No Responses »
Apr 162012
 

Old Susannah reflects on the probability of  the Tullos Hill deer cull having been carried out, examines the role of key players, and presents some definitions we may become more familiar with as the local election looms.

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Well, it’s been another interesting week in Aberdeen. I hope everyone had a pleasant Easter vacation, and things were as vibrant and dynamic (or otherwise) as you wished. I spent some time in the Coventry and Evesham areas, where all sorts of interesting things were going on.

I went to a pub where people played backgammon, cards and/or played folk music. I went to a meadow in the hamlet of Inkberrow, where the Plantlife charity is protecting some important wildflowers and animals in a delightful meadow.

I went to a bluebell wood near Evesham where deer, people, dogs and trees all managed to coexist without shotguns. This part of the world even has road signs to warn motorists that deer may cross the road – what an idea.

Sadly, even if the Council cut down on hiring consultants and throwing parties for itself, we might not need any deer crossing signs at Tullos – the number of deer which have been killed is unknown, but in a report I received a few weeks ago, buried on page 67, are the plans to kill off virtually all the bucks and most of the does we have.

The pre-planting cull happened, with a jolly hunter explaining to a hill-walker source of mine that deer ‘are basically rabbits with long legs’.

Might as well just shoot everything; we’d probably be able to make money from it somehow. Sigh. I guess we’ll just have to accept that the City and paid deer-kill supporter/tree planter CJ Piper know what’s best. We’ll just have to leave the main forces behind the cull (Aileen Malone, Pete Leonard, Ian Tallboys and Chris Piper) to get on with it. It would be a shame if any upcoming protest would add to the sea of newspaper and TV new items which have brought this situation to a larger audience.

Why do I pick these four people out, you might wonder?

Aileen Malone has always been the poster girl for the deer kill/tree scheme, appearing in press when it was just going to be a tree plantation. Did you see the lovely picture of her this week in the Evening Express? She had on a hard hat (you might think that was unnecessary) and was behind the wheel of a mechanical digger. Glee was in her little face.

However, when the cull became public knowledge, she suddenly became camera shy.

Chris Piper is  our expert who, having been paid £44,000+ so far, is confident we can plant trees successfully! Result!

Pete Leonard must have writer’s cramp from all the emails he’s put out repeating that ‘the consultation was robust’ and ‘deer need to be culled’.
He also managed to find time to singlehandedly determine that no funding was available for keeping Tullos as a meadow (which it already is).

Leonard wrote that a meadow would be more expensive than another tree planting, even though the tree scheme cost you and I at least £87,000 so far.

Old Susannah just found out that we are paying £480 pound per day for clearing the site, and the work is ongoing. Chris Piper is our expert  who, having been paid £44,000+ so far, is confident we can plant trees successfully! Result!

CJ Piper & Co might not show up in Companies House when you do a search, but they show up as author of a paper as to why we need the trees (it’s for the community you see, and to save a tiny bit of C02 – eventually). Writing a paper to keep the cash coming in, he’s endorsing the proposal which will make him more money: another result!

Ian Tallboys is a bit of the strong silent type – when it came to building at Loirston Loch and in the fields at Cove anyway. He’s certainly standing up for his right to use his licenses (shooting and meat management) when it comes to these trees. There is little evidence that rangers or anyone else maintained the weed-choked trees dying in tubes at St Fitticks and on Tullos (and at Seaton) – but everything will be fine this time. Sure it will.

But now on with some definitions. The elections loom, and with elections come a number of strange beasts…

Butterfly ballot: (noun) – a type of paper ballot in which the actual voting is done on a folded page, pamphlet-like ballot (the two open pages are like a butterfly’s wings; the voting is done where the butterfly’s body would be).

Let’s remember (as covered in this column a long time ago now) that your ballot is totally secret, so there is no need for any folded butterfly style paper. You are assigned a number, you get a numbered slip of paper when you go to the poll, and a list is made. Absolutely no way anyone will be able to track how you vote. Voting is just as safe and private as sending an email.

But back to butterflies. We won’t have to worry about butterflies very much going forward, as we’ve destroyed most of their habitat for housing (while existing properties sit empty), for trees ( which aren’t going to grow), and for a football stadium (which might not exactly be what the fans want).

Rumour has it that a certain city employee, meant to safeguard nature, is about to apply to cut down some ancient trees on their land. This is very surprising – Old Susannah would have thought the man in question would have skipped getting permission and just chopped the offending trees down straightaway. More on that another time.

Dark Horse: (Noun) – a relatively unknown candidate, seeking victory over their more established and better known rivals.

Well, the upcoming Aberdeen elections have no shortage of underdog, dark-horse candidates. The ballot papers are awash with Independents (including yours truly). It’s almost as if some people have had quite enough of party politics. The phrase ‘dark horse’ had to do with keeping details about your horse’s abilities secret before the animal raced.

I wonder if we have any candidates who like to keep secrets about animals from an unsuspecting public? Am I Malone in thinking we might?

Stalking Horse: (phrase, English)

1. person or thing designed to hide someone’s real intentions.

2. a candidate wanting to change the leader of a political party who stands only in order to provoke the election so that a stronger candidate to come forward.

3. a hiding place traditionally made in the shape of a horse behind which a hunter hid when stalking prey.

We can’t have an election without a stalking horse, can we? All sorts of interesting tales reach Old Susannah about how HoMalone became head of the LibDems. Was a stalking horse involved, and if so, who? Who was a weaker candidate that Malone?

Putting all that aside for now, we all hope that Aileen and Mr McCaig have mended their fences, kissed and made up. Their coalition was in peril not that long ago, and in pre-election skirmishes in the past both political parties have been less than kind to each other.

Whatever happens this time at the poll, let’s just hope we can get the same, sound, reliable, honest coalition we’ve been enjoying here for these past few vibrant, dynamic, smart, successful years.

As to the third meaning for stalking horse, well, we could always ask Ranger Bigboy how his deer hunting has been going, and if he favours the use of a cardboard cut-out, two-dimensional figure to hide behind. Not that I am insinuating that Ms Malone is a stalking horse in this sense of course.

Battlebus:

(noun – modern English) A vehicle used by a party to transport its leader or other senior figures around the country to rallies or to meet the people.

Some candidates go around in open top cars. Some of course travel in style, like when our shy and retiring (well, retiring anyway) Lord Provost gives his LibDem heir apparent lifts in the Civic Car. Much classier, even if the taxpayer picks up the bill for any emergency candidate trips to schools to pick up children.

On the subject of our Lord Provost, he has been a very busy man of late. No, not with his trip to Nagasaki to visit one of Aberdeen’s many twin cities (oh, the dreary pains of fulfilling office). Our LP has been handwriting dozens and dozens of letters, exhorting his constituents to vote for candidate Steve Delaney. This was later referred to by Delaney as ‘an error of judgment’.

Maybe one of the servants should have been despatched for the child in question so that the canvassing could continue.

Well, that’s all the definitions we have space for. Remember, you only have about a week to get yourself on the electoral register. Get all the gen from http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/lgelections2012/

Next week: More Freedom of Information requests and hilarious answers

Shot For Trees? – Tullos Hill Update

 Aberdeen City, Featured, Opinion  No Responses »
Apr 122012
 

What has happened on Tullos Hill lately? What happened to the deer? Suzanne Kelly, who first covered the Tullos Hill deer cull story almost a year ago in May 2011, updates Aberdeen Voice readers.

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Deer Cull

First, I am sorry to say but the cull seems to have happened. I have several sources who witnessed a silver Land Rover and one (unconfirmed) who spoke to a hunter. How many animals were shot so far, and whether more will be destroyed, is now subject of a Freedom of Information request.

Three separate sources have similar stories to tell – a silver Range Rover seen on the hill several times by different people and reports of lights flashing at night on the hill set the scene to support that Aileen Malone, Ranger Ian Tallboys, ‘consultant’ Chris Piper and Peter Leonard have had their way, and had deer shot.

A source told me he confronted a man on the hill who was clearly a hunter ; this hunter apparently said the Tullos deer were being shot during the season, which just ended. The hunter allegedly said that deer were ‘like rabbits with long legs’, and that ‘usually’ they were killed with one clean shot. A further night-time count, according to the hunter, confirmed that there were some 30 deer on the hill.

Perhaps worst of all, according to this hunter, under the new guidelines only one buck and a few does can be supported in the large Tullos Hill area. (A life-long country resident and countryside expert I consulted tells me this figure ‘seems extremely mean’). If this statement is true, then it spells the end for a healthy gene pool: you don’t have to be a scientist to see this is nonsense. Animal welfare groups and experts have repeatedly protested against the cull on scientific as well as ethical grounds, and advised that the deer move between several sites.

Animal experts will be asked to weigh in on the number of deer that the hill can support. If the new law which just came into effect truly says that only one buck and a doe or two would be the maximum, then – as Charles Dickens famously wrote – ‘the law is an ass.’

Bureaucracy

I’d written to the Forestry Commission and called to remind them that three community councils panned the City’s poor, misleading & incomplete consultation. This ‘phase 2 consultation’ appeared online and mentioned nothing about putting a massive 89,000 trees on Tullos (which if they stood a chance of growing would change the existing environment forever – the effect on everything from birds to fungi will be profound) or about shooting our deer.

No one in the local area seems to want this, and very many people have said ‘no’ to it by writing to the City and by signing petitions.

every gorse plant, every fern and every other green thing has been replaced by a beige coloured wasteland

So what did the Forestry Commission advise me? They said to correspond with the city.
Valerie Watts has already refused to correspond with me on this issue any further (failing to answer relevant, pointed, specific questions).

More to the point, the Forestry Commission was told the consultation was fine by the Tree for Every Citizen Scheme’s proponents – and is now choosing to ignore the people of Aberdeen who are saying the consultation was a farce.

Clearly, writing to the City, which naturally sticks to the ‘robustness’ (in their words) of the consultation, would be pointless in the extreme.

However, this consultation was not just a nicety – it was supposed to be a requirement for the scheme proceeding. In a slide presentation (which is general to say the least) Ranger Tallboys infers the consultation was correct; his presentation uses a photo of people looking at a map in a seeming attempt to illustrate the concept of consultation.

The robustness of the consultation is also attested to in a December 2011 report written by CJ Piper (the consultant the City hired who has thus far been paid at least £44,000) and the City (specific author unspecified, but one must assume Tallboys and Leonard had a hand in it at least). The document seems to be part of the application the city made for this next phase.

The draft application certainly looked faulty to me, and this December 2011 report entitled “Aberdeen City Council, The Granite City Forest ‘Tree for Every Citizen’ Programme, Tullos Hill Community Woodland” is worthy of some further analysis.

Aberdeen City Council, The Granite City Forest “Tree for Every Citizen” Programme, Tullos Hill Community Woodland: A study in self-promotion, propaganda and whitewash.

It is not possible to ignore the cover of this report for openers; it has a picture of Tullos, wherein every gorse plant, every fern and every other green thing has been replaced by a beige coloured wasteland which makes Death Valley appear as a welcoming oasis. Imposing a forest on this barren empty area would look a good idea (well played, Aberdeen City Council).

  Page Four’s first paragraph advises the reader how ‘vibrant and dynamic’ the ‘vision’ is.

A look at the table of contents for this 68 page report (Page 69 is left blank for the reader’s ‘notes’) would lead you to think it is a highly scientific, thoroughly researched balanced work. Twenty-five maps, a dozen tables, and sections on everything from soil to strategy – what could be more scholarly? Then you start reading.

The repetition, another propaganda technique, doesn’t even allow the reader to go two pages without using the same stock phrases again and again. Page Four’s first paragraph advises the reader how ‘vibrant and dynamic’ the ‘vision’ is. For the more forgetful reader, this is reiterated a mere six paragraphs later.

In between we are told this is not a management plan, but rather is meant to give further support to the scheme. So, we have a situation where CJ Piper, a direct financial beneficiary of the past scheme and any further work, is working with the council to prove what a great plan this is. ‘Conflict of Interest’ is the phrase that most comes to mind.

Page Five in its Sections 2.1 and 2.2 stress no less than 3 times that there are ‘community’ benefits. There is absolutely no mention to be found in this paper of the complete lack of community support for this scheme.

A section on soil later in this report, heavily padded with imagery, makes no mention of the Forestry Commission’s own soil report until the last few pages, where at last buried in a table is some acknowledgement that the previous planting failed largely due to weeds and allegedly deer browsing. If the deer which now also need to be ‘managed’ at St Fitticks were really a cause, then why are virtually all the St Fitticks tree guards in pristine shape?

Finally we come to the real actuality of what is proposed for our hill and its deer.

Page 67 lays out the one-off night vision count figures – and then lays out plans to eliminate veritably all of these animals. There will be no herd of deer by the time the trees are meant to be maturing. Here are the cull plans, previously withheld from the public for an unreasonably long period of time:

‘An [sic] SNH count using thermal imaging equipment was carried out in February 2011 which indicated the presence of 7 bucks, 10 does, 6 juveniles and 6 unclassified animals.

Two types of control will be carried out within the Plan period:

(1) A Pre-Planting Reduction in stocking of deer whereby additional inputs from ACC will be employed in the initial year of the Plan to reduce the roe deer population to a level that will not threaten establishment of the planned woodland creation programme. This is estimated to be 8 deer per 100 ha.

(2) On-going Management Control that will be carried out on (an) annual basis to maintain the roe deer population at the above level that is considered to be necessary to achieve the desired woodland and associated habitat conditions.

The Targets for the above types of management will be:-

  • 2012/13 pre planting reduction: 8 bucks, 9 does, 7 juveniles (Popn. target 5
  • 2013/14 on-going management 1 buck, 2 does, 1 juvenile (popn. target 5)
  • 2014/15 on-going management 1 buck, 2 does, 1 juvenile (popn. target 5)
  • 2015/16 on-going management 1 buck, 2 does, 1 juvenile (popn. target 5)
  • 2016/17 on-going management 1 buck, 2 does, 1 juvenile (popn. target 5)

Totals 8 bucks, 9 does, 7 juveniles for pre-planting reduction and 4 bucks, 8 does and 4 juveniles for on-going management.’

You do not have to be a scientist or a biologist to see that this programme, if carried out, will end the genetic variety and thus health, robustness and overall survival of this herd of roe deer. Any predation, death (they live 6-7 years) lack of successful breeding – and the herd will be gone.

The paper claims that 8 deer should inhabit 100 ha. That is some estimate, and if it truly reflects new deer guidelines, these need to be re-thought, questioned and changed before the apparently powerful, definitely lucrative, hunting lobby ‘manages’ our deer populations out of existence.

The culler’s name is blacked out. He or she has worked for Aberdeen City Council since 1983. They will shoot our deer with a .22 calibre rifle. They are qualified in game meat handling.

The only community building that has taken place is the unification of people and community councils against this tree scheme.

The report says deer are now (suddenly and conveniently) overpopulating Aberdeen and resulting in automobile accidents. The writer suggested over a year ago that in keeping with other parts of the UK, the City should erect some signs warning motorists deer are in the area as a precaution.

The number of deer causing accidents is as nothing compared to the number of other animals killed by motorists, the number of pedestrians hit while crossing roads, and the other forms of road carnage we see daily in our newspapers. It is a situation which an awareness campaign and signs could well help to eliminate in a fashion somewhat less barbaric than killing the animals to save them.

This ‘kill to avoid a problem’ mentality should not be allowed to drive our deer into a low population situation. The fact is nature is cruel – some animals will die; some will be predated (again, foxes do get young deer). Yet somehow, despite lack of government intervention and Mr Tallboy’s rifle, they have managed to exist in this area for decades. Until now.

The hunter from all accounts would have to be Ranger Tallboys. The question is opened, is this man serving the environment or his paymasters? There was not a hint of objection when the city granted planning permission for a football stadium to be build at Loirston Loch, in the heart of a SAC area home to protected species.

Now Ranger Tallboys is adamant that the deer must be shot, despite costly failure of the first phase of trees to grow and the clear evidence the second phase will likewise fail. His silence over the gorse removal and its impact on various species including birds such as the Yellowhammer, was deafening.

It may well have been Tallboys who referred to deer to a passer-by on the hill as ‘rabbits with long legs’. We may have rabbit population issues. Rabbits and roe deer do not have the same breeding and population issues. This attitude might be amusing, except for its complete lack of understanding of the community’s wishes.

The paper refers again and again to community building. The only community building that has taken place is the unification of people and community councils against this tree scheme.

I could go into further detail about this paper; its arcane drawings showing how 89,000 trees will not change the vistas from or of the archaeological remains on Tullos and so on. It is a cut and paste job which raises many questions (not least of which is who exactly paid for it, and why it is allowed to misrepresent the public feeling on this matter).

I will post a link to it on one of my websites shortly, omitting the illustrations which have turned it into a vast, repetitive document.

Trees

The trees at St Fitticks (where there are any traces of trees at all in the intact tubes) were either choked with weeds or are stunted (no doubt due to the poor soil and proximity to the North Sea, its winds and its salt air.

The area as shown in my recent photo-essay is wholly neglected. If there are people in Aberdeen City who were meant to maintain the trees and keep the weeds down, then they have done a very poor job indeed. Hardly any at all of the tree guards at St Fitticks are damaged. The area is strewn with litter as well, and vandalism certainly accounted for some of the damage.

The gorse was cleared in massive sections from Tullos; perhaps it is just as well deer have been shot, for they are without the shelter they previously would have had.

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