Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Middle Eastern falcon racers bid to set up training base at Pitcairngreen

Falconry is an enormous market in the Middle East.
Falconry is an enormous market in the Middle East.

A Perthshire farm plans to train 100 racing falcons for wealthy enthusiasts in the Middle East.

An application has been submitted to Perth and Kinross Council’s planning department, requesting permission to build a falconry breeding and training centre between Moneydie and Pitcairngreen.

The raptors, which sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars in the gulf states would be raised at the Moneydie Roger farm.

Falcon racing began to take off in the early 2000s in Middle Eastern countries and the birds are a coveted status symbol in countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar.

Developers say the falconry base would create five full time specialist jobs immediately, with potentially five more in the future.

They add that the long term job prospects are good, since the site would be  “servicing a highly lucrative industry in the Middle East.”

The proposals are to demolish an existing farm building at Moneydie Roger Farm, around two kilometres north-west of Pitcairngreen, and build four “natural pairs” sheds for the birds.

Each would contain 20 pens, equipped with perches and space for the birds to move freely when they are not being trained.

The private applicant, who has submitted his application to the local authority through estate agents Savills, says this would be enough space for approximately 100 falcons.

Also in the plans is a round pen for “hacking” – a training method that helps young falcons hunt.

The method involves keeping young birds that are still unable to fly in captivity in conditions styled like natural nests, before they are released to explore their nearby surroundings and learn to fly.

The applicant, understood to hail from the United Arab Emirates, has told Perth and Kinross Council the location has been selected because falcons perform better if bred in cooler climates, making Scotland an ideal base.

Wildlife surveyors NEO Environmental say a barn owl roosting box would have to be installed if a nearby building, which the birds use at present, is demolished.

A licensed bat ecologist was also asked to carry out a preliminary roost assessment in November.

Planners are expected to make a decision in the near future.