News from Mannin Branch Celtic League:
The Celtic League Mannin branch has submitted an objection to planners over a proposal to erect a statue depicting Brent Geese at Langness. The objection text is set out below:
“Submission by Allen Moore, the Secretary of the Celtic League Mannin Branch, regarding Application no. 20/00115/B
“The Celtic League has been concerned with conservation issues in the Isle of Man, including the Langness area, for many years. In addition, the person making this submission first visited Langness area in 1967, and has made frequent visits since, especially in about the last 20 years.
“Under 11, the application states that the site is not in a Conservation Area. However, it is within the Langness, Sandwick and Derbyhaven Area of Special Scientific Interest designated by DEFA. As such, surely the development should not be allowed in the ASSI.
“The statue in the application looks rather thin to withstand some of the severe winds which we increasingly get in the Isle of Man.
“It is always a pleasure to see Brent Geese, the bird proposed to be portrayed in the statue. However, the nature of Langness speaks for itself without the incursion of any manmade objects such as statues. Indeed, from a historic perspective Brent Geese are relatively new arrivals in the Langness area, only regularly wintering here in about the last 15 years (see, for example, the Manx Bird Atlas and the annual Manx Bird Reports published in “Peregrine”). The vast majority of the World’s Brent Goose population winters in other areas surrounding the Irish Sea and on North Sea coasts. Brent Geese might qualify aesthetically, but many other species of birds are more typical of Langness, Choughs, for example, Curlews or Golden Plovers.
“The organisation and the person making this submission have no property ownership interest in the site for the proposed development.
Allen S Moore,
Mannin Branch Secretary,
Celtic League.”
Mr Moore who is himself a keen and skilled ornithologist and edited the journal Peregrine for many years also spearheaded a successful attempt which saw a proposed NATO exercise at Langness aborted last year.
Related link: http://www.iomtoday.co.im/article.cfm…
Image; Aerial view of Langness – inset proposed statue.
Bernard Moffatt, Assistant General Secretary (Ist March 2020)
