Day 056 - 28 Nov 94 - Page 35
1 environment.
2
3 Then we come to questions of sustainability, biodiversity,
4 in so far as it can be identified where the timber for
5 McDonald's comes from and what kinds of cutting and other
6 forestry methods are practised in those areas.
7
8 So, that is what I would urge you to concentrate on,
9 because there is no way that my judgment is going to go
10 into all the detail which Mr. Mallinson sets out on the one
11 hand and Mr. Hopkins sets out on the other as to forestry
12 practices and facts and figures, save in so far as they
13 bear on McDonald's and bear on the issues in this case.
14 Personally, I find forestry a very interesting subject.
15 There was a programme on trees on television last week.
16 I taped it on video and I look forward to finding time to
17 watch it. But that is not what the case is about.
18
19 You know I do not want to cut you down just for the sake of
20 it. I have let you go on because my experience has been
21 that if I interrupt your scheme of questions you may
22 sometimes lose your route, but I am going to break off now
23 until 2 o'clock. I would be very grateful if you focus on
24 what relates to McDonald's.
25
26 I mean, one way of structuring your cross-examination might
27 be to look, first of all, at what sort of areas we are
28 concerned with so far as McDonald's is concerned and where
29 and how, and then bring in facts and figures as to what, if
30 any, effect that has adverse to the environment of
31 significance.
32
33 MR. MORRIS: I do not mind doing it that way.
34
35 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I do not want to throw you off your scheme,
36 but can you see then, if it were at the end of the day that
37 Mr. Kouchoukos' calculation was right and Mr. Mallinson's
38 calculation was right, it might be thought that that is a
39 very different kettle of fish to 800 square miles; if they
40 are wrong, we have to look at the sorts of areas we are
41 involved with and see what the effect of that is. This is
42 not a postmortem into forestry practices, period. That
43 only comes in when we see what McDonald's are responsible
44 for.
45
46 MR. MORRIS: Yes. I mean, the problem is that we have the
47 evidence which has been taken as read which is quite a
48 considerable volume of material which, obviously, we are
49 not happy with and we feel we need to challenge. I think
50 this is a problem with what has happened. It is OK as
51 taking things as read in order to ensure that things that
52 are important, you know, that may have been mistakenly
53 missed out possibly in examination are there on the record,
54 but it is another thing taking a 30 page statement as read
55 and then -- obviously, I have had no guidance from you
56 until I start on what the issues -----
57
58 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I take that point. For better or worse, you
59 are faced with a statement of Mr. Mallinson which does
60 actually contain all these figures. I accept that, but by
