Update for all Findhorn wildfowlers
Moray Council ban on shooting over Council land at Findhorn Bay. From Moray Council: “The Economic Development and Services Committee on the 5 September 2017 agreed to support the voluntary scheme proposed by the Findhorn Bay Local Nature Reserve Management Committee for the 2017/18 season. A review of the scheme will take place at the end of the season.
In addition the Council reaffirmed its position that shooting will not be permitted above the High Mean Water Mark on Council owned land as shown in pink on the attached map. Anyone shooting in this area is committing a criminal offence and should be reported to Police Scotland.”
Please see the attached map. The area shaded in pink is Moray Council land.
SACS notes from a local press article that Moray Council say they were told, presumably by Findhorn LNR, that there were 42 meetings in regard to the wildfowling issue. If that is correct, then there were 38 meetings that wildfowlers have not been invited to or part of.
Thus, it is increasingly clear that the LNR Permit Scheme is a pre-planned stitch up. Wildfowler objections and alternative proposals were deliberately ignored and the anti-shooting fraternity were not only given a fresh seat at the LNR table, but there have been almost forty meetings behind the scenes that local and visitor wildfowlers were not aware of or invited to.
Sadly, we expected Moray Council to announce a shooting ban on their land as, regardless of permits, it is the easiest way of reducing shooter numbers in that ‘Kinloss Bay’ area and distancing local houses from the sound of shots. The Council have given way to the pressure of local anti-shooting elements, including anti shooting activists who sit on the LNR Committee tasked with running the permit scheme. Their much-hyped Council ‘mediation scheme’ has been a sham.
At the time of writing, wildfowlers and SACS have had no response from Moray Council on why they support this incompetent and potentially illegal permit scheme and why they continue to support Roy Dennis and the LNR Committee despite the irrefutable evidence that the community most-affected by the this scheme has not been effectively engaged with. Our collective request for a meeting with Moray Councillors has thus far had no response.
IMPORTANT ADVISORY NOTE:
No-one should be shooting on land where they do not have lawful authority to shoot and take quarry. Moray Council have made it clear that anyone shooting on their land faces prosecution and it likely that the antis will be on the lookout with cameras. The area in pink is out of bounds – PLEASE DO NOT SHOOT THERE.
Anyone prosecuted for such an offence could have their certificates revoked and could lose the property, including vehicle, they had with them on the day.
Moray Council’s ban does NOT affect wildfowling on the foreshore on Findhorn Bay below the Spring tide mean high water mark. Do not let the Council’s behaviour stop you wildfowling, but please do take care where you shoot.
If anyone does apply for a voluntary permit, they not only face the ban on shooting on Council land, but a three month ban on the foreshore as well. Our firm guidance continues to be that no wildfowler worth his or her salt and who believes in the future of wildfowling should apply for one of these anti-shooter-run voluntary permits. All local wildfowling groups have objected to the terms and operation of this scheme and, given Moray Council’s lack of willingness to engage, that is unlikely to change before the end of the season.
Moray Council have stated that the next step for them is to review the permit scheme after the season and we fully expect a declaration of ‘success’ with no evidence to back it up; we would expect nothing less.
Keep wildfowling: Keep it legal, keep it safe and keep it sensible.
On the positive, this has brought local and UK-wide wildfowlers together in a way we did not expect. That solidarity is key to our future.