Hi All
It is an exceptionally busy time and we are still in the midst of the Public Inquiry process where we are putting forward our case to stop Vattenfall, ( a company owned entirely by the Swedish Government) from developing a second windfarm in the Clashindarroch Forest. This site is home to most important population of Scottish wildcats in existence. Such development and disturbance could lead to the extinction of this population which would be catastrophic for the Scottish wildcat.
We had the actual hearing on the 2nd march and we are now in the process of writing our closing submissions. You can watch the hearing on this link. I will warn you though that it is very clunky and there are technical issues with this link. Strangely, the other non wildcat sessions all seem to work fine. Perhaps just another coincidence hey. Here it is. We give our evidence in the afternoon session 3 to 4 hours in.
https://dpea.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/649473
Vattenfall have employed a QC called Marcus Trinick and they put forward their Ecological consultant, Mr Paul Bradshaw from a company called MBEC, as a witness. In his witness statement, Mr Bradshaw has admitted that there are wildcats in the Clashindarroch and that the site is of National significance. However, when giving evidence there was a clear attempt to backpedal from this position and claim that they are just hybrids. Trinick and Bradshaw then seemed to take a position that the Scottish wildcat doesn’t actually even exist and that they are not a separate and unique sub species or evolutionary significant unit, worthy of conservation. Perhaps they forgot that the Scottish wildcat has been separated from mainland European wildcats for around 10,000 years.
It gets worse, Mr Bradshaw in his witness statement relied on a German study that looked at the impact of windfarms on wildcats. He used a statement from the study to suggest that the operational phase of windfarms causes no significant displacement. However, he omitted to comment on the preceding paragraphs which state the following, ‘the construction phase presents potential hazards that can lead to the killing of kittens in particular, or to the displacement of wildcats’. Mr Bradshaw attempted to convince the Inquiry that windfarms are not harmful wildcats when they operate, but didn’t say that’s because all the wildcats and their kittens have already been killed and displaced during the building phase. It is blatant cherry picking and a total misrepresentation of the facts. Remember that the Ecological consultant is supposed to be independent of Vattenfall and work objectively.
So we had an attempt to dismiss the importance of the Clashindarroch wildcats, followed by a convenient omission that windfarm construction kills wildcat kittens and displaces adults.
However, they stooped to even lower levels than this. We have previously told you that a whistle-blower had come forward who claimed that the presence of wildcats on the site was kept secret from the relevant agencies. Well just prior to the Inquiry a report was leaked to us. It is from 2013 and is a report produced by the Ecological Clerk of works. This report was paid for by Vattenfall and has their name on the front of it. The report makes clear reference to the existence of possible wildcats on the site. This is of course hugely significant evidence. Such a report should have been provided to the Inquiry by Vattenfall but it wasn’t. At the start of the hearing on the link above, you will see that our lawyer raises this issue and attempts to get the report included as evidence. You will notice the vehement objection by Vattenfall’s QC to prevent this, denying the existence/validity of this document. Well yesterday the document was formally accepted as evidence by the inquiry. The whistle blower was right. Vattenfall have withheld documents from public scrutiny and have consistently betrayed the existence of Scottish wildcats in the Clashindarroch. It is shameless and it is blatant and beyond doubt. Such suppression of crucial information that can impact their development applications, appears to be a clear attempt at Corporate Fraud by Vattenfall. Big money is at stake here. The documents can be seen on our news page at:
https://www.wildcathaven.com/news
So we fight on, uncovering evidence that was never meant to see the ljght of day, giving a voice to the otherwise voiceless wildcats. We won’t give up and with your support, we can save these priceless wildcats. We are in for a long haul so if you want to support our work, then you can do so at:
https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/wildcats/
Many thanks as always.
The Wildcat Haven Team and Finlay