Hi All
We hope you are all well. We wanted to give you an update on the Vattenfall windfarm proposal. As you know, we took part in a number of hearings at the Public inquiry which took place earlier this year. Your support allowed us to utilise the services of specialist environmental lawyers and ecologists. We are extremely pleased with the arguments and the case we were able to present. We gave the Scottish Wildcats that call the Clashindarroch home, a voice when otherwise they would have had none.
We have now been informed that the report from the Inquiry is completed and has been presented to the relevant Scottish Ministers. The Ministers will now either approve or refuse the development. We have not seen the report yet, but once it is available we will share it with you.
As we have said all along, this windfarm development will be catastrophic for the Clashindarroch wildcats. Indeed even Vattenfall have conceded that the Clashindarroch is a site of National important for the wildcat and they even presented evidence that demonstrated wildcat kittens could be killed during development and adults displaced. It’s therefore unimaginable to us that any Minister would want to sign off a development that would be a major contributor to the extinction of the wildcat in the wild. We therefore remain hopeful that the Ministers will reach the right decision.
So it’s getting to crunch time now. Be rest assured that we are on standby to act accordingly should the unthinkable happen and the destruction of this vital wildcat habitat is approved. In this scenario we will need each and every one of you to be ready to help us.
In other news, we are also currently surveying what is possibly a new population of wildcats. We have found signs of wildcat in some extremely remote locations on the west coast and we currently have cameras set to get images and videos. This is a really exciting and new phase of our work.
Finlay continues to thrive and regain his condition. We are so delighted that he has now almost fully recovered from his horrendous ordeal. We will update more very shortly and post a video of him.
You can keep up to date with news on our website and you can subscribe to receive newsletters as well at the bottom our web pages.
Keep watching as it promises to be a very busy and important winter ahead.
Very best wishes as always.
Emily ( Director) and Finlay