Farmers 'supportive' towards hunting pleas (From Gazette & Herald)

Farmers 'supportive' towards hunting pleas

HUNT organisers have written to thousands of North Yorkshire landowners and farmers to ask their permission to continue legal activities on their land when hunting with dogs is banned.

The Hunting Act is due to come into force on February 18, but due to an expected series of legal challenges from the Countryside Alliance, it will probably not come into force for at least a year.

Masters of the Derwent Hunt and Sinnington Hunt have written to landowners, and the Middleton Hunt is in the process of doing so.

Bridget Till, a joint master of the Sinnington Hunt, wrote: "We need to obtain farmers' and landowners' permission in writing. This is in order to give the strongest possible defence in case there is a prosecution of illegal hunting.

"It will not be an offence for hunts to gather and meet for hound exercise, cross-country rides or 'trail' hunting. I stress that we are only asking permission for legal activities. You cannot be prosecuted if you keep within the law, nor will you lose a Single Farm Payment if the hunt accidentally breaks the law on your land."

The emphasis is on the term "legal activity" because the Hunting Act reads: "A person commits an offence if he knowingly permits land that belongs to him to be entered or used in the course of the commission of an offence under Section One." Section One is the offence of hunting a wild mammal with a dog.

"We all face a very challenging time ahead and require your understanding and support," said Mrs Till.

"Surely, we all want to see our beautiful countryside of North Yorkshire thrive. We've had enough of being treated as second-class citizens.

"We must fight - we must be united and attend as many country functions as possible, in order to show our will and strength. We can and we will."

Clive Procter, a member of the Derwent Hunt, said they had a "pretty good" response to their letter from farmers who had been "very supportive".

"We've decided we'll continue with legal hunting. We're all ordinary working people with no rich landed gentry to keep us going," said Mr Procter.

Gilda Brader, joint secretary of the Middleton Hunt, said: "The masters are going to send out a letter to landowners, there should be between 1,500 and 2,000. They also plan to visit them and explain the situation. It's important that they're all on our side."

Updated: 13:03 Wednesday, January 12, 2005