North Yorkshire councillors reject call to ban trail hunts on council land

Councillors in North Yorkshire have rejected calls to ban trail hunting on North Yorkshire Council owned land.

This week, Labour councillor Rich Maw, who represents Weaponness and Ramshill, and Green councillor Arnold Warneken, who represents Ouseburn, tabled a motion at a full council meeting to prohibit the practice.

Trail hunting involves laying an animal scent, usually urine, for hounds to track and is followed by a group on foot or horseback.

The practice is legal, but organisations such as animal welfare charity the RSPCA and the League Against Cruel Sports have called for it to be banned.

Cllr Maw and Warneken said in their motion the hunts had been used as a “loophole to carry on hunting foxes and other animals”.

At a meeting on Thursday, Cllr Warneken said:

“The issue is that we’re trying to ask this council to stop an illegal activity taking place on their land and any measures that we can do to achieve that.

“I think that’s ethically and morally responsible, if we can do it within the law.”

Read more:

Conservative and Independents Cllr Andrew Williams, of Ripon Minister and Moorside, said he had no desire to stop people undertaking a “legal pursuit” and called for the motion to be rejected.

The motion was rejected by 47 votes to 26.

Ahead of the vote, the Countryside Alliance, which previously described the call as a “waste of time”, contacted councillors urging them to vote it down.

Following the meeting, Polly Portwin, director at the Countryside Alliance, said:

“While we are pleased that North Yorkshire Council has finally kicked this divisive motion out, we are incredibly disappointed that so much vital council time and resources has been wasted on debating a lawful activity.

“To be frank, Cllr Maw should apologise for demonising significant swathes of North Yorkshire’s rural community. In the future he should use his time as an elected member to pursue an agenda which benefits the people living in the Weaponness & Ramshill division. The trail hunting community across Yorkshire provides invaluable benefits to the countryside, both socially and economically.”

Ripon councillor likens trail hunting ban to 1930s Germany

A campaign pressing for a ban on trail hunting on publicly-owned land across North Yorkshire has been rejected after being likened to an act of the German government in the 1930s.

Members of North Yorkshire Council’s ruling Conservative group and two Independent councillors who have formed an understanding with them voted to recommend the notice of motion not be supported when it goes before a full meeting of the authority in November.

After the vote by the authority’s corporate and partnerships scrutiny committee, Polly Portwin, director of the Countryside Alliance’s Action for Hunting campaign said it was “a victory for common sense”.

She said: 

“It would be morally wrong for any local authority to ban a lawful activity and we hope this ideological attack on the rural way of life is voted down at the next meeting of the full council.”

Labour councillor Rich Maw, who had proposed the motion, said the result had been politically motivated.

Cllr Maw said the law surrounding hunting was persistently being flouted across council land and that the League Against Cruel Sports had collated 29 witness reports of suspected illegal hunting, including eight incidents of cub hunting in the county.

He told members trail hunting was being used as a cover for illegal hunting, enabling “the inevitable chasing and killing of animals to be labelled accidental”.

Cllr Maw, who represents Weaponness and Ramshill, was accused of pursuing a “personal crusade”. He said: 

“As a council we have an opportunity, a responsibility to act. It is about recognising the current legislation is being abused.”

The meeting heard claims some 78 per cent of the public supported new laws on hunting to protect animals and called on the council to display a pro-active, preventative approach to animal cruelty, environmental damage and antisocial behaviour associated with hunting.

Labour group leader Cllr Steve Shaw-Wright said the council needed to support the will of the majority of residents.

Read more:

However, Damian Readman, a joint-master of the Derwent Hunt, told the meeting how the hunt accessed council-owned land “throughout the season” and that tenant farmers should be able to make their own decisions regarding the land for which they are responsible.

He said: 

“Trail hunting and hound exercising, which are both legal activities, are no different to any other lawful countryside pursuits like dog walking or mountain biking. Wild mammals are no more at risk from the hounds carrying out their lawful activities than they are from any other dogs.”

Tory members questioned the campaigners’ evidence and described the notice of motion as “utterly ridiculous”. They said there was “a danger of prohibiting lawful behaviour”, before claiming there was a “hint of the class war about it”.

After an hour of fierce debate in County Hall’s council chamber, its chairman Cllr Andrew Williams said the proposal would be “largely ineffective and unenforceable”.

He said those behind the proposal were trying to get the council involved in gestures and gimmicks that had no actual meaning.

The Ripon councillor added: 

“It’s a very slippery slope when we start imposing majority will preventing minorities from exercising perfectly legitimate legal rights. I point you to how Germany ended up in the 1930s when it went down a route of imposing majority will as opposed to minorities.

“It is for parliament to change law, not elected councillors.”

North Yorkshire trail hunting ban ‘unenforceable, but the right thing to do’

Councillors behind a push to prevent trail hunting activities on North Yorkshire Council’s vast estate say a ban is “the right thing to do” even though it may be unenforceable.

Councillors Rich Maw and Arnold Warneken said local politicians across the largely rural county had a moral duty to ban trail hunting, exempt hunting, hound exercise and hunt meets outright across all council land, where legally possible, including any new tenancies.

The Labour and Green councillors issued the call ahead of a meeting of the local authority’s corporate scrutiny committee today (Monday), which will seek to agree a response to a notice of motion for the ban to be put before all the council’s elected members.

The motion has been condemned by the Countryside Alliance as “anti-rural” and by some Conservative councillors as “a waste of time”.

An officer’s report to the meeting states trail hunting is “a legal, although controversial, alternative to hunting animals with hounds” in which a scent trail is laid “ostensibly to recreate the experience of chasing a real animal”.

It has been claimed that trail hunting is designed to replicate hunting as closely as possible, but without the deliberate involvement of live prey, however campaigners in North Yorkshire say they have ample evidence of animals becoming targets.

The land owned by the council mostly affected by a ban would be its farm estate portfolio, which is thought to be about 3,500 acres.

Read more:

The report highlights how recent years have seen several major landowners, such as the National Trust and the Church of England, suspend or ban trail hunting on their land.

It states while some local authorities such as Nottinghamshire County Council had banned trail hunting, Cornwall Council had agreed banning a lawful activity would be a direct attack on rural people.

The report states: 

“In considering the notice of motion put to the council earlier this month, members will recognise there may be issues around enforcement if a decision were taken to ban trail hunting on council owned land i.e. the huge amount of property/land owned by the council, and the possible financial implications and other resources it may require.”

In response to the report, Weaponness and Ramshill division Cllr Maw said trail hunting was “a smokescreen” for the act of actually hunting wild animals.

He added: 

“A ban would mean on the common lands we have got control over and building that into new tenancies going forward.

“It’s really about the messaging rather than policing it. With video or photographic evidence there is a way for it to be policed. If the hounds are in front of the horses and the hunt doesn’t technically have control of the hounds in a public area then they are breaking the law.”

Cllr Warneken said was also not possible to enforce every 30mph limit, and bans on people dropping cigarette butts or not wearing seatbelts, but that had not stopped those rules being approved.

He said: 

“Do we not do the right thing because we can’t enforce it? We are condoning breaking the law if you don’t think we should ask our new tenants if they would consider signing up to not allowing trail hunting on their land.”

Call to ban trail hunting on North Yorkshire Council land ‘waste of time’, says former animal welfare campaigner

A former animal welfare campaigner has described a call to ban trail hunting on North Yorkshire Council land as a “colossal waste of time”.

Jim Barrington, who is a former director at the League Against Cruel Sports but now advises the Countryside Alliance, said the motion which will be put before the authority next week “would do nothing to help animal welfare”.

At a meeting next week, Labour councillor Rich Maw, who represents Weaponness and Ramshill, and Green councillor Arnold Warneken, who represents Ouseburn, will table a motion calling for the practice to be prohibited.

Trail hunting involves laying an animal scent, usually urine, for hounds to track and is followed by a group on foot or horseback.

The practice is legal, but organisations such as animal welfare charity the RSPCA and the League Against Cruel Sports have called for it to be banned.

At a meeting in May, Cllr Gareth Dadd, deputy leader of North Yorkshire Council, said the council “can’t confirm” whether or not trail hunts take place on its land.

In their motion, Cllr Maw and Warneken said the hunts had been used as a “loophole to carry on hunting foxes and other animals”.

However, Mr Barrington said the move would only “fuel prejudice” against rural communities.

He said:

“This motion does nothing to help animal welfare, but everything to fuel prejudice against rural people. Submitting this motion is a colossal waste of time, when there are so many genuine issues facing people living across North Yorkshire, not least the cost-of-living crisis.

“We sincerely hope councillors from across North Yorkshire reject this anti-rural motion in the first instance. There can simply be no justification whatsoever to ban a lawful activity on council owned land.”

Read more:

Meanwhile, the Countryside Alliance has said it will be contacting North Yorkshire councillors calling on them to reject the motion at the meeting on July 19.

The move comes as other organisations have called on the government to change the law on trail hunting.

A pressure group called Time For Change, which is led by the League Against Cruel Sports, was set up last month to lobby ministers to strengthen the Hunting Act.

It includes 32 animal welfare charity groups such as the RSPCA, Human Society International UK, Cats Protection and PETA.

Andy Knott, chief executive of the League Against Cruel Sports, said:

“We’ve known since very soon after the Hunting Act 2004 was introduced that hunts were using its many exemptions – and something they call trail hunting – to carry on chasing and killing wildlife with hounds. 

“We and other like-minded organisations have been calling out for the law to be strengthened, for its many exemptions to be removed, and for trail hunting to be outlawed.”

Call for ban on trail hunting on North Yorkshire Council land

Councillors are to call on North Yorkshire Council to ban trail hunting on land owned by the local authority.

At a meeting next week, Labour councillor Rich Maw, who represents Weaponness and Ramshill, and Green councillor Arnold Warneken, who represents Ouseburn, will table a motion calling for the practice to be prohibited.

Trail hunting involves laying an animal scent, usually urine, for hounds to track and is followed by a group on foot or horseback.

The practice is legal, but organisations such as animal welfare charity the RSPCA and the League Against Cruel Sports have called for it to be banned.

At a meeting in May, Cllr Gareth Dadd, deputy leader of North Yorkshire Council, said the council “can’t confirm” whether or not trail hunts take place on its land.

He added that the authority was “not aware” of any formalised hunts taking place on its property.

However, in their motion, Cllr Maw and Warneken said the hunts had been used as a “loophole to carry on hunting foxes and other animals”. 

It adds:

“Across the country, hunts are using trail hunts as a loophole to carry on hunting foxes and other animals. 

“So called terrier men are frequently present with shovels and terriers, while scent trails are often not present.”

The motion adds that the Hunting Act 2004, which bans fox hunting, is unworkable and calls on the council to ban any trail hunts on council owned land.

It says:

“This council resolves to ban trail hunting, exempt hunting, hound exercise and hunt meets outright across all council land where legally possible, including any new tenancies where there are positive covenants attached to the land that currently require the council as owner to allow trail hunting events and formal gatherings.”

Councillors on North Yorkshire Council will debate the motion on July 19.

Read more:

The move comes as organisations have called on the government to change the law on trail hunting.

A pressure group called Time For Change, which is led by the League Against Cruel Sports, was set up last month to lobby ministers to strengthen the Hunting Act.

It includes 32 animal welfare charity groups such as the RSPCA, Human Society International UK, Cats Protection and PETA.

Andy Knott, chief executive of the League Against Cruel Sports, said:

“We’ve known since very soon after the Hunting Act 2004 was introduced that hunts were using its many exemptions – and something they call trail hunting – to carry on chasing and killing wildlife with hounds. 

“We and other like-minded organisations have been calling out for the law to be strengthened, for its many exemptions to be removed, and for trail hunting to be outlawed.”