Having watched the first two episodes, i am astonished that the BBC has given any interest to this glorified zoo/safari park!.
Giving permison to this would close the doors of scotland and open the door to anyone else wanting to fence of 25,000 acres of our beloved countryside. perhaps the BBC or indeed Paul lister has never heard of the "scottish outdoor access code 2005"?
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Some of you might have caught the first of a 6-part series on the BBC last Monday about Paul Lister's plans to reintroduce native species to his Alladale Estate. Included in those plans is a 3m tall electric fence to keep the wolves and bears inside the "safari park". The fence, between 35 miles and 50 miles in fence, won't have any access points for the public. Instead Paul says you can pay £50 a visit. I missed the programme myself but from what I've picked up it was a pretty "soft" documentary with little in it about the fencing plans. However, as with most television series like this, it has been well publicised and Paul has had a lot of PR from it. There has been a fair bit of response on the forum to the issue and it's been suggested that hillwalkers should gather on Paul's estate in north Scotland to protest. My own experience of such protest walks have never been good - I reckon you'd need a few thousand to create any kind of media interest and I just wonder how many folk would be prepared to travel all that way to make a protest? Very few, I suspect, but if you think differently, let me know. If such a protest walk was to take place the organisers can depend on support from TGO in terms of publicity. Posted by: Jim Bryce at 4:00pm on Tue 15 Jul 08 Posted by: Cameron McNeish at 9:26pm on Wed 16 Jul 08 I had been prepared to give Lister the benefit of the doubt in terms of his enthusiasm for re-wilding, although I maintain a strong opposition to his 9-ft high electric fence, but after watching the BBC programme on Monday night it is very evident he's a bit of a money grabber. His eyes certainly lit up when the guy from Shamwari said his Safari Park-****-luxury golf course is worth £5M and then Lister himself had the brainwave of charging people £40 a time for a Land Rover Safari at Alladale. "Give em some soup and a roll and let them feed the deer", he said. What an attitude! It was then revealed the hoo-ha Henry's stag night cost them £2000. If that wasn't enough he came up with a scheme to try and stop his guests at his new shop in Ardgay so he could try and sell them stuff. I get the feeling the longer this series goes on the more the "real" Paul Lister will be revealed. Posted by: R Webb at 2:14pm on Mon 18 Aug 08 A march is required, but not all at once - that is publicity, and you know what PR men think of publicity. Go individually and keep visiting, enjoy the hills, (other than the hideous destruction that Sly the Vandal and his bulldozer has wreaked), then pop in to the shop in Ardgay and tell them what you did. (The coffee is great in there). Let these clowns know, that they will be opposed and that we are just one of the many interests threatened by this lunacy. |
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Regular updates from Editor Cameron McNeish on life in The Great Outdoors Bloggers Robyn Frew Designer Cameron McNeish TGO editor Emily Rodway Deputy Editor of TGO
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