Conservationists warn festival over badger disruption

By The Newsroom
Published 26th Feb 2016, 12:33 BST
Updated 5th Mar 2016, 05:00 BST
Local badgers are being disruptedLocal badgers are being disrupted
Local badgers are being disrupted
Thumping house music from a summer music festival would casue badgers to become stressed, conservationists warned today.

Animal welfare charity Scottish Badgers is to lodge a formal objection to the granting of consent for the the “Festival of House” at the Panmure Estate near Carnoustie in Angus.

The Festival is due to take place on June 10 and 11 and boasts headline acts Underworld, Disclosure and Leftfield. It will apply for a licence for the event from Angus Council in the coming weeks.

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In a row that has echoes of the T In The Park row about nesting ospreys, Scottish Badgers say that the Festival of House would cause “irreversible harm” to the ecosystem.

T in the Park has come under fire in the past for disturbing nesting ospreys, with the Angus-based Festival of House accused of greatly impacting on badger setts in the region. Image: Ken Whitcombe.T in the Park has come under fire in the past for disturbing nesting ospreys, with the Angus-based Festival of House accused of greatly impacting on badger setts in the region. Image: Ken Whitcombe.
T in the Park has come under fire in the past for disturbing nesting ospreys, with the Angus-based Festival of House accused of greatly impacting on badger setts in the region. Image: Ken Whitcombe.

The group said the two-day festival would cause an unacceptable negative impact on badgers and their setts, several of which are located next to the proposed site.

Scottish Badgers secretary Dr Ellie Stirling said studies had shown low sound frequencies and “thumping bass notes” could more than treble badgers’ stress levels.

She said that the festival would disrupt badgers from entering their normal feeding grounds and their young would face the risk of failing to acquire key survival skills.