Steering Group News

In December 2015, Friends of Findhorn Bay submitted an 811 signature petition calling for a ban on all shooting in Findhorn Bay. Since then we have sat through two separate attempts at compromise talks instigated by Moray Council, both of which have ended in failure. The first mediated meeting, in June 2016, ended in an agreement to introduce very limited shooting restrictions, without a permit system. This was denounced by BASC, who refused to go along with it on the grounds that they had not been consulted and they found it too convoluted.

So back to square one and in 2016 enter Roy Dennis, the recently appointed Chair of the LNR committee, who agreed to take on the unenviable task of trying to find middle ground between the four shooting groups involved (that is BASC and SACS at national level, and FNDWA and FBSCA at local level). Mr Dennis also consulted representatives from FFB and local ornithologists and conservationists, since it’s not all about what the shooters want, is it? Out of these various meetings he crafted a shooting permit system, which included limits on numbers of visiting shooters, no shooting on Mondays as well as Sundays and no shooting in certain eastern areas of the Bay in December, January and February, for wildlife conservation reasons.

FFB went along with this proposal on the understanding that it was a one year trial only, simply in order to bring at least some improvement for the next season. However, we communicated to Mr Dennis that the voluntary system did not go far enough in terms of preventing, or at least limiting, early morning noise disturbance, or in limiting the overall number of shooters at any given time, among other things. Unfortunately, this time it was SACS which said that it would not go along with the permit system, because in its opinion the voluntary system went too far…

What this meant in practice is that only around 20 shooters applied for shooting permits online at http://fblnr.org/wildfowling/ for the 2017-18 shooting season. Hence, last season we endured the same intolerable situation as before, i.e. unregulated shooting at any time of the day or night in all areas of the Bay apart from the existing no shoot zone by Findhorn village. Local people continue to be woken up by shooters’ vehicles parking in the vicinity or their homes as early at 4am, followed by shotgun noise from around 5am, which disturbs and wakes people living in Kinloss and Findhorn… How can early morning noise disturbance like this be acceptable on any day of the week?

Local residents are in effect being held to ransom by the disagreement amongst the shooting groups – what about local residents’ right to peaceful enjoyment of their homes and to be able to use their local nature reserve all year round? The reserve is supposed to be a public amenity after all, for the enjoyment of everyone. Not to mention for the benefit of wildlife and to aid conservation. The clue is in the name “nature reserve”, surely?

In June 2018, the Economic Development & Infrastructure Services Committee of Moray Council again recommended that ‘interested parties’ get together with an experienced mediator, to attempt to agree yet another voluntary agreement, because there is still no cash (for which read: no political will) for a legally binding byelaw to stop the shooting. Steering group members of Friends of Findhorn Bay will continue to attend these meetings (starting in September 2018) in order to make sure that the concerns of local residents are properly represented.

We, the residents of Kinloss, Findhorn and the other residential areas around the Bay must continue to make our voices heard and our wishes and needs clear. The Council is expecting these ‘interested parties’ to solve this intractable problem, which, after 40+ years of agro and two recent, failed, mediation attempts already behind us, appears to us to be a total abdication of their responsibility to you, the local residents, to find a workable solution from their position of authority. The Ward 8 Councillors are supposed to be representing YOU, the wider population, not just a small bunch of very vocal and pushy people, who get their kicks from killing wild birds, often leaving them injured or maimed or dead around the Bay, and regularly littering the Bay with their spent cartridges and wads.

Your Ward 8 Councillors details can be found here. Click on the photo to get the Councillor’s email address. Please drop them a line if you are affected by the shooting and let them know how you would like things to change. You can also let us know via our Contact Us page.

On the 13th December 2016 two representatives of Friends of Findhorn Bay took the concerns of hundreds of locals from Findhorn, Kinloss and Forres to a meeting designed to reach a negotiated agreement over the problem of unregulated shooting in Findhorn Bay Nature Reserve.

Friends of Findhorn Bay have made it clear that they would like to see a ban on all shooting in the Nature Reserve, and the group has a strong mandate for this – last December over 800 local people signed a petition asking Moray Council to ban the shooting on the Nature Reserve altogether.

But in a spirit of compromise, Lisa Mead and Gelda MacGregor, from Findhorn village and Forres respectively, came to the meeting willing to see a realistic shared vision of the bay that would:-

1. Reduce the number of days that shooting is allowed in the bay;

2. Significantly reduce the numbers of shooters through a permit system;

3. Limit the areas where shooting is permitted, so that people are able to enjoy parts of the bay without worrying whether it is safe to walk there.

4. Obtain a commitment that shooting will not take place within 400m of residential homes.

Such a compromise is intended to allow the practice of shooting to continue in a considerate and controlled way, and it would finally create a fairer balance between the rights of the shooters and the majority of local people.

As Lisa Mead pointed out “The number of shooters is very small compared to the local population as a whole, but the presence of people with shotguns on the Bay actively inhibits and discourages the many other peaceful pastimes and pursuits that people could be enjoying there. It also prevents the development of autumn and winter wildlife tourism in the area. This imbalance cannot continue.

In particular, the current situation makes large areas of the bay near Kinloss a no-go area for local families and children, a situation that surely can’t be considered desirable by any of the groups involved.”

The meeting, which was attended by representatives from 4 shooting groups (2 local clubs, plus national reps from BASC and SACS) was ably chaired by Roy Dennis of the Findhorn Bay Nature Reserve, who now has the task of suggesting a fair compromise agreement.

Lisa Mead added “Friends of Findhorn Bay as a group, and as local people who care deeply about the bay, are fully behind Mr Dennis’ efforts. Unfortunately, it was clear from last night’s meeting that any meaningful change to the status quo will be very hard for the shooting groups to agree amongst themselves, let alone with us.

We remain hopeful however that they will see that there is an overwhelming desire from local people for a better balance between the shooters’ freedom to practice their sport, and the rights of local people to enjoy the peace and beauty of the bay.”

After the meeting Gelda MacGregor said, “The key to this has to be local democracy. Stephen Cooper (Moray Council’s Head of Direct Services), Alisdair Mceachan (Moray Council’s Head of Legal), Cllr Anne Skene and Cllr Lorna Creswell all came to last night’s meeting, and whilst we would like to thank them for attending, we would ask them and the wider Council to bring a lot more pressure to bear on the shooting groups in this process. It is after all their responsibility to represent the interests of the large numbers of their constituents who want a significant reduction in the shooting as a minimum. Without a more active role in pushing for change, and without a commitment of Moray Council to introduce a bye-law to regulate or even ban shooting, the shooting lobby won’t make a meaningful compromise, and then these negotiations seem unlikely to succeed”.

A record number of more than 50,000 pink-footed geese arrived on Findhorn Bay over the weekend of 1-2 October 2016. The pink-footed goose breeds in Eastern Greenland, Iceland and Svalbard. The migrating geese arrived from Iceland and Eastern Greenland to overwinter in Great Britain – a distance of between 1,000 – 2,000 km. The other migratory population of pink-footed geese migrates from The Svalbard Islands in the Arctic Ocean, through Norway to the Netherlands, Belgium and Western Denmark.

Bird-watching enthusiasts and other members of the public have been making the most of the opportunity to see the geese as they come and go from Findhorn Bay around sunrise and sunset. The noise of the geese is quite intense around the Bay, and there are so many of them that their wing-flapping can be heard as they come in to land en masse.

Below are some photos of the pink-footed geese arriving back on the Bay, taken at sunset on Saturday 1st October. They arrived in large scale V-formations or “skeins”, but then broke ranks to drop onto the Bay in a manoeuvre known as “whiffling”. During whiffling the geese fly sideways or upside down in order to descend rapidly in a controlled way. It is an impressive and chaotic sight as the geese come in to land!

This wonderful display of nature occurs every morning and evening at the moment and will last only a few weeks or less before most of the geese head South, but it is a stunning display that people in Moray are lucky to witness.

Access to the Nature Reserve is easiest from the bird hide on the Kinloss-Findhorn road or the little foot bridge opposite Manse Road in Kinloss. Parking is free and easy at the Kinloss Church car park as well – then just follow the happy chatter coming from the bay (wellies are a good idea, but not essential).

Once on the shore, there are many tree trunks to sit on. Wear warm clothes, bring a camera and binoculars and enjoy the show! Anyone wishing to join groups of Friends of Findhorn Bay members going goose-watching should use the contact form to find out who is going when.

The Kinloss Flower Club’s project later in the year of a wheelchair accessible path in the South Eastern area of the Bay will make things even easier for the general public, with a pavilion at the end for comfortable viewing, resting and observation in the nature reserve.