By Harry Mottram: A group called Action Against Fox Hunting have appealed for residents to boycott the Boxing Day meeting in Axbridge Square of the Weston and Banwell Harriers or to join them in a demonstration opposing the meeting by distributing leaflets in the town. Their main objection to trail hunting is that is leads to abuses with foxes being hunted and killed by hounds as they did before the 2004 Hunting Act which banned hunting in packs but allowed for trail hunts and for two dogs to be used to ‘flush out’ a fox. However, they have switched their objections from animal cruelty to the legality of hunts using public spaces for their meetings.
In Freedom of Information (FOI) requests from the anti-hunt group to Somerset Council they asked the authority about the permissions required to close the car park in the Square, access through the Square for road users and who had the authority to allow the hunt group to meet there in the morning of the 26th December. Separately they also have distributed leaflets in the town asking questions about insurance for the event and health and safety issues when numbers of riders, horses and hounds gather in the Square and the implied dangers to the public.
As previously written the Square is the responsibility of The Town Trust while the roads around and through it are looked after by Somerset Highways – the county council’s road maintenance group. In response to the FOI requests Somerset Council reported: “The public/highway user has a right of access. Any closure of the parking areas should be agreed with Parking Services. Somerset Council should be notified of any use or events held within the square. As Highway Authority, Somerset Council has a duty to maintain the highway to a safe condition. If any necessary works require a road closure this will be arranged and managed in the correct manner. Any requested closure of the Square would need to be processed through the correct channels.”
According to Alyson Rogers of the anti-hunt group the Town Trust has not been helpful in her inquiries and gave her ‘short shrift.’ The Town Trust was created in 1889 and its trustees are charged with looking after the historic assets of the town including the Town Hall and The Square while other assets are managed by other bodies on behalf of the Trust including the museum and the Somerset Record Office. She and others did ask questions at a recent Town Council meeting of the Town Council but the council does not have jurisdiction over the use of the Square. Road closures are arranged through Somerset Council for events like the carnival and the pageant – which last several hours.
On the face of it although according to Somerset Council there should be a request to close the parking in the Square from the Town Trust for the meeting on Boxing Day and the road should remain open for road users. In practical terms the meeting is fairly short – lasting around an hour and technically vehicles can cross the square and park during the event – even if the place is rather crowded. Supporters for the hunt point out the meeting is a popular event with the public and is over soon after it begins as the riders and hounds move off to trail hunt. In short – despite the arguments they believe is it is an entirely legal activity – and that trail hunting is legal as defined by the 2004 Act.
There is a long history of opposition to so-called blood sports – and a long history of hunters and their supporters defending their field sports – with today the Countryside Alliance the main defenders of traditional country pursuits. The issue of trail hunts which replace fox hunting has come to a head as during the election Labour announced they would ban the practice due to its abuses.
The Countryside Alliance made this statement on their website: “The Labour Party’s manifesto says the new Westminster government will “ban trail hunting”. This is a less specific promise than that in the 2019 manifesto which was a detailed pledge to strengthen the Hunting Act by increasing penalties, expanding the offence of hunting and removing exemptions. What the new commitment actually means is not clear, although the Defra Secretary, Steve Reed, has confirmed that this should not impact on drag hunting. The Alliance has been clear that new legislation is unjustified and unnecessary but, given the scale of the Labour majority, it is inevitable.
“We will continue to argue that an attack on legal trail hunting or exempt hunting would be in direct contradiction of what the last Labour government said when it passed the Hunting Act in 2004. There is currently no suggestion that the government will bring forward proposals early in the parliament although we expect it will come under increasing pressure from animal rights groups and some MPs.”
As far as Axbridge Review understands the annual meeting will go ahead as usual although there is no reference to it on the Countryside Alliance’s website which lists Boxing Day meetings – the closest one to the town shown being the one in Priddy.
Axbridge Review is edited by Harry Mottram and is published for the interest of himself and fellow residents.
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