Unanswered Questions Asked by Jane Allan Knapdale resident

Questions

1. What is the difference between this application and the previous application by SNH? Why, given their status as the body charged with the protection of Scotland’s Natural Heritage and the publicly funded work which went into the previous application, are they apparently being excluded from this proposal?

2. If the beavers survive, what is the population likely to be at the end of three years, five years and ten years?

3. Why has a three year trial been chosen to assess the impact of the beaver?

4. What is the area of water and land required to sustain one family group? How long does it take to exhaust one area and require the beaver to move to another site?

5. Will the project proposers produce a map which will clearly show the likely range of the beaver within 3, 5 and 10 years?

6. Will areas of the forest which have hitherto been open to the public, now become inaccessible?Will there be an exclusion zone around the release site and what area will this encompass?

7. Will the local angling club still be able to fish on Loch Linnhe and Seafield Loch?

8. What are the criteria for judging the success or failure of the project?

9. If the trial is a ‘failure’, how will it be terminated (assuming that failure is judged by disruption of the local landscape, existing flora and fauna and land use rather than a failure of the beaver to thrive)?

10. If it is a ‘success’, how many more beavers will be introduced and in which areas?

11. Private Water Supplies (Scotland) Regulations 2006 requires risk assessment and upgrading of private water supplies. This is a costly business. What measures would be put in place to protect water supplies in the area and what area would be covered by such measures?

12. How do you plan to deal with damage or disruption to land or property.

13. How can you assure the public that the information we are given through the press and in presentations about the beaver is impartial and objective?

14. What were the ‘technical issues’ raised in the previous application which you believe can be resolved?