Buddhists in Dumfries win battle to close down unauthorised shooting range

Buddhists in southern Scotland are celebrating after closing an unauthorised shooting range near their place of worship.

Members of the world famous Samye Ling Monastery claimed noise coming from the range was detrimental to religious practice.

The range in Dumfriesshire, which is owned by Eskdalemuir Forestry, was built without full planning permission.

Scottish government planners say shooting range bosses must now remove buildings and a car park that had been built without the correct consent.

A key principle in Buddhism is ahimsa, which is the idea of not causing harm to other living things.

While guns are often a sign of violence and against buddhist teachings. Those at the Samye Ling centre say they accept organised shooting as a part of rural life, but they claim there has been an increase in the number of shoots in the past few years.

The shooting centre was built against planning laws, and its owners have tried to get retrospective permission.

This was refused and the Scottish Government has upheld that enforcement. It said "the appeal has failed on all grounds".

It added that all matters have been considered and it found "none that would lead it to reach a different conclusion".

The shooting centre's appeal has been dismissed and the enforcement notice upheld.

There are other existing shoots near to the monastery, but the buddhists of Samye Ling have said they are pleased they have at least won this battle.

Eskdalemuir Forestry, said they were unable to comment at this time. They can still appeal, however they have just 3 months to remove the remaining buildings and carpark.

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