Seòmar agus comataidhean

Sorry to interrupt, but can we get a timeline as well? The timeline is important.

I have a supplementary question about the percentage of deer that are killed out of season. You said that nearly 50 per cent of culled stags are killed out of season. What is the percentage of culled hinds that are killed out of season?

It does not feel safe. Am I right in thinking that night shooting really only happens out of season? In the summer, there are long days and lots of light.

Deer are a healthy food source; the meat is nutritious and it has a low carbon impact. However, given the way that deer are dealt with out of season, they are not going into the food chain. We have heard reports that deer are being left to rot on the hill. I am not convinced that the Scottish Government has pursued every possible solution to the problem by holding land managers responsible for managing their deer numbers in a way that allows the deer to go into the food chain.

We know that deer fences keep them out and that it is possible for people to manage deer numbers on their land down to zero—or as close to that as possible, as one or two will always get across—if they want to. If someone has a deer fence and they manage their numbers, they can manage the deer properly. Can we assess whether all those options have been used before we use the nuclear option of killing deer willy-nilly at any point?

I absolutely get that we need to manage deer numbers and protect the environment, but deer numbers being allowed to get out of control seems to be a recent phenomenon. Given the number of licences that are being applied for, which is why you are putting forward the SSI, what steps has NatureScot taken to encourage land managers to manage their deer numbers?

We have all heard of contract killing coming in to manage deer numbers, almost against the will of some land managers. We hear stories about deer being shot from helicopters and obscene things like that going on. What does NatureScot do when such contracts are let out to manage deer numbers? How does it encourage those land managers to manage their deer properly in season?

When will those be available?

What research has been carried out into the safety of the process? To me, having people going around at night shooting things seems inherently unsafe. People walk around and go into forests at night. What research has been done to ensure that people cannot be inadvertently shot?

I am thinking about the safety of people. You are talking about issues to do with animals.

Thank you for giving me the chance to speak to the petitions. I cannot stress enough how vital the links in question are to the west Highlands. They link the Highland Council area to the Western Isles. They are seen as links to Uig on Skye and to Uist, so they are incredibly important.

You referred to what the then Minister for Transport said about the STPR and how the A890 did not wholly meet the criteria for inclusion in the trunk road network. I do not understand that, because local communities use it to access healthcare and education, and it is also used for tourism, farming, aquaculture and renewables. It is a freight link to the Western Isles and it is on the north coast 500; as we all know, that has been incredibly successful in encouraging tourists into the area but it has put huge pressure on the road. I believe that the A890 is of national significance because of that.

You mentioned the submissions from Lochcarron community council and the Plockton and district community council, which highlight how important the A890 is to the area. If the road is closed, the detour involves going from the west coast to the east coast and back. That is a detour of 140 miles. A child from Lochcarron who goes to Plockton high school will have to double back, adding 280 miles to their daily commute to high school, which is totally unacceptable. That happens often, often for long periods of time. Therefore, I do not understand the then minister’s reluctance to adopt the A890 as a trunk road. We should also think about the extra carbon that is emitted when the freight that uses that route has to travel an additional 280 miles, which is certainly not good for the planet.

Highland Council has made it clear that it is keen to do something about the situation, but it simply does not have the money. Last year, it spent more than £700,000 trying to deal with the rock falls. This year, it expects to spend £1.5 million on that. The council has not been able to make any progress on the options appraisal that it carried out.

I believe that the roads in question meet the criteria for a national strategic link and that the Government should therefore consider making them trunk roads. Given that we are two transport ministers on from when the most recent response was received, I suggest that the committee should write to the current transport minister to ask her to consider the petitions. I think that the A890 is of national significance and is significant in the context of the Scottish Government’s duty to ensure that children are educated. The issue of children not being able to get to school because of rock falls was an issue when I was at school; it has been going on for some time. At some point, there will be a horrendous accident, because the road is dangerous—people who use it take their life in their hands. The current situation is simply not good enough.

The local people do not care who is responsible. It is clear that Highland Council does not have the money to do the work that is necessary because of the cuts in local government finance. People need to have safe roads. If the Scottish Government is not willing to adopt the A890 as a trunk road, it should seek to make capital available to make it safe or to reroute it along a safer route.

I know that the committee will be tempted to close the petition because it has had a response from the Scottish Government, but I ask it to write to the Scottish Government again, given the national significance of the route and its importance to education, to ask it to change its mind, or to at least consider how it could assist.

I have questions on the muirburn licensing scheme and how it will operate. Large estates might have a lot of people undertaking muirburn and crofters might have only one person doing that. Will the scheme take into account the impact on smaller operators and different operations?

Given that the science on the benefits or disbenefits of muirburn is not entirely clear, how will the code be adapted to follow the science?