LAST WEEK'S announcement of the immediate closure of Orkney’s council-owned Hatston abattoir in Kirkwall has left livestock farmers and the local community stunned.

Since 2012, the abattoir has been leased and operated on a reduced basis by a consortium of local butchers known as Orkney Meat Processors Ltd, but the council has said the abattoir is too big for current and forecasted throughput and much of the plant and equipment is now in need of significant re-investment, despite the council having spent almost £1m on the facility in the last five years.

An Orcadian beef and sheep farmer who asked to remain anonymous said: “It is absolutely ridiculous that the abattoir has been shut down at such short notice – you wouldn’t treat a tenant in this way. I had a private killing of an animal organised for Tuesday and because it is lame it cannot be shipped anywhere so now I am left with it and with no warning at all.

“The council have been looking at this situation for five years now and then they just decide to shut it overnight. I know realistically the abattoir was not sustainable, but this is not the way it should have been done.”

Ali Flett of Williamsons Butchers, Kirkwall, who is a part of OMPL, said that their temporary solution for slaughtering animals was already in force, but they needed a long-term solution immediately.

“We always had a plan B if any problems arose at Hatston so we’ve went ahead and used it. Until we find a local opportunity, animals will be shipped and slaughtered at John M Munro Ltd, in Dingwall, which will cost £20 per head more between haulage and slaughtering costs, than it would up in Orkney," said Mr Flett.

“The fact that Orkney beef and lamb has a Protected Designation of Origin status is a great advantage to us, but now that the Orkney-bred animals will be slaughtered on mainland Scotland this status could be taken away from us," he speculated. "We can assist with private killings for farmers’ stock, but we are unsure at this moment how to deal with fallen stock which need to be slaughtered.

“We must thank both Munros at Dingwall for dealing with this situation at such short notice and Orkney Auction Mart who took control of shipping the first cattle down to Dingwall on Monday.”

MSP Liam McArthur, who met with representatives from the Orkney Auction Mart, Orkney Islands Council, the local branch of NFU and local butchers on Monday, has now arranged a conference call with the Rural Economy Cabinet Secretary, Fergus Ewing, for Thursday of this week.

He said: “This news will be met with genuine shock across Orkney. It has extremely serious implications for farming in the islands, as well as for the wider food and drink sector. These are absolute lynchpins of the Orkney economy.

“I am particularly concerned at the impact this could have on the protected designation status of Orkney beef and lamb, as well as the consequences for other local livestock producers. Likewise, there seem to be serious questions about how we deal with animal welfare issues going forward in the absence of an emergency slaughter facility.

"As I have said before, however, for an economy and community so dependent on high quality livestock farming, it seems inconceivable to me that Orkney could be left without a local abattoir”.

Orkney Council’s director of development Gavin Barr said: "We have taken this decision based on a number of factors, primarily that key resources like technical staff time are simply no longer available to us.

"We've worked hard with OMPL and spent a great deal of money over the last five years to keep the facility running, but this cannot continue in the long-term, with substantial further investment needed to bring the facility up to the standard that we feel is necessary to continue to provide this service."

Speaking ahead of this week's meeting, Mr Ewing said: “We are disappointed to learn of the closure. We know that OIC, the owners, had been maintaining it at considerable cost to them over a number of years.

“We are aware that the vast majority of animals from Orkney are slaughtered on the mainland. I will be discussing the matter this week with the Council leader, local stakeholders, and the local MSP Liam McArthur as part of on-going efforts to explore potential solutions.”