Dear All
David Thomson reported flying recently at the Moorfoots in the company of a
young Golden Eagle. I also had this pleasure a couple of summers ago and I
know many of you have done likewise.
My next door neighbour (Marc Preston, an ex-Commenwealth Games Scottish Judo
Gold Medalist) keeps an owl as a pet. He also has various contacts in the
falconry world and regularly goes out with them when thay are flying their
birds.
At dinner last night he informed me that plans are being drawn up by a
coalition of organisations affiliated to the RSPB to seek temporary airspace
closures along the Moorfoots Ridge. It appears that the Moorfoots Ridge is
being seen by these organisations as an important training area for the
rehabilitation of injured birds. He also said that the activities of
paragliders had been discussed and that thay had expressed an interest in
trying to restrict our activities so as not to interfere with the training
of their birds. One of the organisations (The Association for the Protection
of Raptors in the Lothians) has already contacted the CAA and are quoting
Section 3 of the 1981 Wildlife & Countryside Act which allows the Secretary
of State to designate areas of special protection (sanctuaries) to provide
further protection to birds and to prohibit disturbance or restrict access.
This is further backed up by Section 15 of the amendended Endangered Species
(Import and Export) Act 1976 via Schedule 10.
Further they have found a clause in The Protection of Animals Act 1911 which
allows the King (or present Monarch) to restrict all access to any area of
land to allow for the flying a bird of prey for a maximum of 28 days in any
one calender year. It seems the reigning Monarch need not evoke this clause
and that it can be done by either a member of the Government or a
representative of the Monarch. The coalition have in their ranks a current
Member of Parliament, at least two Members of the House of Lords and the
current Advocate General for Scotland (in short they are a very powerful,
well organised and determined threat to our flying activities).
The second group (The Federation of Ornithological Organisations in the
Lothians and Scotland) bring together 'twitchers' from all over the country.
Together these two bodies represent an immediate threat to our sport.
What they are proposing is to re-instate The Protection of Animals Act 28
day rule. If succesful this will close the Moorfoots Ridge to us when
Raptors are being trained. It is highly likely that they will seek to close
the ridge on days when the wind is from the NW as this is the best wind
direction for the birds (and paragliders) to fly. Looking back through my
logbook over the past 7 years I reckon to have flown at the Moorfoots for an
average of 20 days per year. If this proposal goes through it will almost
guarantee little or no flying at the Moorfoots from here on in.
They are also preparing a defence against the anticipated response from the
paragliding community by claiming that our activity falls within the scope
of the Wildlife & Countryside Act in that we present a clear disturbance to
birdlife that is unlawful.
For reference full details of the relevant legislation can be found at
<http://www.naturenet.net/law/wcagen.html>
http://www.naturenet.net/law/wcagen.html which gives a useful summary of the
respective acts.
The timescales for this clause are ridiculously tight. Submissions for
comments and/or objections to this proposal must be lodged with the CAA by
midday on Tuesday (similar to the Transponder issue the CAA look like they
know this will be a contentious issue and have tried to sneak this in with
little or no consultation). They are hoping that as so few paraglider pilots
fly at the Moorfoots (and with the short notice that has been given) that
few of us will be bothered to make representation or make our objections
known.
The Moorfoots was the first place I flew after completing my CP and it holds
a very special place in my heart. As such I am trying to co-ordinate a
response to the CAA, the RSPB and the two organisations involved. I would
urge all pilots to forward to me your comments and I will then pass these on
to the appropriate channels.
Alternatively you can forward you comments to Professor L. Daisy who is the
person collating public responses within the CAA. Her email address is
prof.lola.da...@caa.org.uk I will ask Steve Durkin (the new SHPF Sites and
Safety Officer) to take this forward to see if we can at the very least get
the CAA to extend the deadline for objections.
Thanks for taking the time to read this post. I will report back as soon as
I recieve any further information.
Cliff Smith
