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Rule ‘chaos’ puts shoots at risk
MORE than 200 English shoots are fearing for their futures after a ‘chaotic’ decision to change licensing laws was implemented in a bid to combat avian flu. The new rules, which came into force on June 1, mean that shoots wishing to release pheasants (above) or red-legged partridges on a protected area, or within 1,500ft of its boundary, would have to apply for an individual licence that would be assessed by Defra on a case-by-case basis. The British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) believes that the new licensing rules would affect more than 200 shoots.
As well as the shoots themselves, gamekeepers are also fearful for their livelihoods, with many likely to be made redundant if shoots close. Nigel Neame, secretary of the Bulford and Tidworth Garrison Shoot, was told at the end of June that the shoot was being denied a licence to release birds on the protected area of Salisbury Plain. Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, he said: ‘There was no consultation and we had no expectation that the rules would change this year. If the shoot doesn’t go ahead, we will have to make our keeper redundant.’
'There is a simple solution–Defra should reverse the change that was made without consultation'
Mr Neame also said that the loss of the shoot and the gamekeeper will have a negative effect on the conservation efforts being undertaken on the plain. ‘The
