Rabbit-proof fence project attracts £21k grant funding
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"WABBIT season" at Forres Golf Club will be a thing of the past thanks to funding from Berry Burn Community Fund.
The Forres golf course management committee have been awarded £21,000 towards perimeter fencing that will help stop the invasion of rabbits that cause thousands of pounds worth of damage every year.
"We’re delighted to hear that we have been successful," said management committee chair, Don Wright. "We got all of the finance that we requested to replace 50 per cent of the fencing and renew the rest."
The course is a Common Good asset, having been donated to Forres by Sir Robert Grant of Logie in the 1940s, following in the footsteps of his father Alexander who gifted Grant Park to the community.
"The course management committee is run on behalf of the golfers in Forres so we are improving an asset that belongs to the town’s forefathers," said Mr Wright,
"The perimeter is 2.8km in total and is in various states of disrepair as it has been up for at least 70 years."
Some of the broken-down areas have allowed the encroachment of rabbits from nearby fields. The committee spends around £4000 a year controlling rabbits and repairing the
course. Renewing the fencing will help prevent damage in future and increase public safety by stopping people walking onto it.
The new rabbit-proof wire-netting fence will conform to a standard set by the Forestry Commission.
The committee hopes to employ local contractors to carry out the work which will start at the end of the golf season in October.
Mr Wright is grateful for the funding during difficult financial times.
"Without the money from Berry Burn, we would not have been able to tackle this project," he said.
"The course is run on limited funds and we are under financial pressure due to decreased membership.
"We lost 150 members when RAF Kinloss closed and are concerned about the lack of juniors at the club, particularly as we are not attracting as many new members as in the past."