Whisky and waste

Sir, In the Arran Banner of February 24 the front page headlines read: ‘Early chance to bag first taste of Lagg. Arran Distillery Ltd hopes to raise £4.2million boost from whisky sale’ and residents of Arran are encouraged to purchase casks at £6,000 each of heavily malted malt whisky from the new distillery.

At the very same time the distillery is going ahead with the construction of a pipe into Kilbrannan Sound, north of Thunderguy and Lennimore, so it can empty all its untreated effluent twice daily into this pristine marine environment. No pollution control, no resource recovery.

This is a National Scenic Area, so who thought this was a good idea? The distillery is annexing Arran’s natural beauty in pursuit of greater profit, their gain is everyone on Arran’s loss and sums up the powers of those who allowed this to happen at all levels from SEPA, North Ayrshire Council to Arran Community Council and others who did not object to the planning application or licence application. Their environmental policy, can be summed up in two words, FOR SALE.

Scotland’s natural environment is now a commodity to be sold to the highest bidder, it is the beginning of the ‘Enclosures’ all over again and this loss that will not be reversed. The commons of the sea are for sale. Next will be more applications for increased biomass in older and new salmon farms. This sets a precedent.

So next time you drink Isle of Arran whisky, take a short time to remember the untreated waste being spread in the inshore marine sea around the beautiful island in a National Scenic area and you are ultimately responsible for it as it is you it is being done for. Try not to choke on it.

If you want to see a better alternative take a trip down the coast to Girvan and visit Grant’s.

Yours,

Sally Campbell Lamlash