A miracle happened.... the Council refused permission for the fish farm expansion opposite the village (without me even having to chain myself to anything).

Two things were interesting about that experience. The first was unexpectedly wanting to cry when it became obvious that the Council was going to refuse permission. It was then that I realised how hard I had been fighting. The second thing was how little I felt like celebrating. While our fish farm expansion was refused, another huge farm was given the go ahead in the loch to the south of us. The science for both is the same - only the community response was different. That's politics for you. So the fish farm thing is ongoing. We suppose they will probably appeal and will perhaps win then. It didn't feel like anything worth celebrating. These campaigns are more like small battles within a much larger war. There will be no happy ending on this one until the Government stops making it easy for the salmon companies to do what they like in the mistaken belief that the benefits to Scotland outweigh the environmental damage. The only winners at the moment remain the salmon companies themselves.