Hi All
Thanks for all the information and comments, believe me despite many different thoughts within our sport / hobby coming to a site like this really does help when like minded people share their views and with a few idiots in my area giving Air Gunners and the likes a bad name in the past few months, (one report in a local paper in relation to an Air Rifle being used in a residential area, that was a bloody Christmas present for a 15 year old idiot) the support I have been given is greatly appreciated".
The waste land we have permission to use is right next door to a local golf club and owned by the club, this was our first port of call, it was our idea to prove we can carry out the operations in a safe and responsible manner and remove all pests along with ensuring there was no, or minimal disruption to the golf course and no damage caused.
We have achieved this over the last few weeks we believe and our next approach will be in relation to the course, we have already been given a “nod of the head†in regards to this and we have taken one trip onto the course along with the grounds man, so we are awaiting the outcome of a meeting with him and the course manager, just a case of having to wait and see.
Our next attempt at gaining more ground will be on the grounds of a nearby horse riding stables, we are going to approach this via the visible issue they have of Moles within the paddocks and side of the garden lawn (starting with the lawn) we are going to point out the issues in relation to the horses safety and the danger of them tripping in a Mole hole and damaging their legs or worse still breaking a leg, along with pointing out the damage these “fury spades†do to the land. from there we hope to be granted the permission to reduce and remove other pests.
Many people say it is difficult to get permission on private land to carry out these activities and enjoy our sport (totally agree) the way Bob and I have gone around this issue is an easy one because farmers / landowners are not going to let total strangers run around on their land until they are aware they are going to respect the permission given, the land, the animals and the farmers / landowner.
So Guys and Gals, can I suggest you take this approach if you are finding it hard securing permission on a chosen area of land, go for the Rat trapping or Mole reduction angle and prove your worth and responsibility, pointing out the time consuming issues of eradicating these pest and offering this service free of charge of course, with the landowner or farmer being extremely busy with a little luck they will see the worth of your offer, hopefully you will be able to offer other services, but make up some form of ID for yourselves listing the services you are willing to offer.
Who knows this may be of some use to someone, just mine and Bob’s way of carrying on and growing the area of land under our permission to use. Hope it helps.
But in all honesty the grounds man of Golf course we secured has been concerned for quite some time in relation to the rabbit population so we started there, it also helped that I use the course and have secured a course fee reduction deal when it comes to providing the service for the waste ground area.
Pin
Thanks for the link in relation to the permissions letter, I had laid out a similar letter but there are a couple of points within the link you provided that I am going to take a look at changing, CHEERS, again it has been a great help.
Regards
Taz
