Another 'bleeding chunk' from recent exchanges about SWT's management plan. (Again normal coloured type is my original comments, blue is the SWT response and my reaction to that is in red.)
9 We continue to oppose the presence of farm cattle and of fences as entirely inappropriate to the spirit of this area. This is not the same as opposing grazing animals such as wild red deer and even some role for wilder cattle over a much greater area of the neighbouring upland. The foremost objection is to the enclosing of farm livestock on a public open space.
So you don’t want farm livestock such as cattle but you do want wilder cattle.
I don’t ‘want’ any cattle myself . I would infinitely prefer red deer and perhaps fallow deer and roe deer as well. If you read what I have said you will see that I would not oppose in principle a genuine rewilding which involved some role for a limited number of wild cattle over a much larger area. I might oppose certain practical ways in which it might be implemented. But I am opposed to farm cattle enclosed on Blacka both in principle and in practice.
Wild in what way? Appearance? Behaviour? What about ownership? Animal welfare? This would be for those who propose the policy to put forward. And for others such as myself to scrutinise. I think you are aware of the use of cattle in some areas where they are not controlled as are farm cattle. As you know I was perfectly happy with Blacka the way it was as a changing landscape that would always be influenced by wild animals such as deer.
Obviously we’re dealing with a small site in the National Park, for a short period of time so this isn’t something that is relevant here . But refer to the minutes too as we talked briefly about re-wilding and landscape-scale conservation.
But what is so worrying is that no thought seems to be going into the longer term from any of you conservation people.
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