Pigeon licence problem cleared up. BASC release.

[Simon Clarke]

BASC welcomes clarification of general licence shooting conditions.

 

9th March 2005……………………………………………immediate release..

 

Clarification of conditions attached to the shooting of pest bird species, such as pigeons and crows, has been welcomed by Britain’s biggest shooting organisation, the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC).

 

DEFRA has changed the wording on the open general licences which permit the shooting of pest birds for specific reasons such as the protection of crops. A clause referring to non-lethal alternatives had resulted in widespread confusion because it was open to misinterpretation.

 

The wording has now been changed to make it plain that an individual who is shooting under the terms of the licence need only be “satisfied” that scaring birds away would be impracticable or ineffective.

 

BASC spokesman Simon Clarke said “This is a welcome adjustment of the wording of the general licences. It should end the confusion which has surrounded the practice of bird pest control in England since the revised licences came into force on the 1st of March. Unhelpful press speculation has given the impression that shooting for pest control was “effectively banned”. It is not. Shooters can continue to perform this essential role in the countryside.”

 

ENDS.

 

NOTES TO EDITORS:

 All birds are protected under European Law. (EC Wild Birds Directive 79/409/EEC).

 Certain named species can be controlled under the terms of an open general licence, issued annually by DEFRA in England and by the appropriate authorities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

 The licences allow control to take place for specific reasons, such as the protection of crops, public health or safety. Individuals do not need to apply for, or hold a copy of the licences, but should be familiar with their terms.

 Details can be found on the BASC website http://www.basc.org.uk/content/basc_advice_to_members_on

 or DEFRA website http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-countrysi...gen-licence.htm

 

For more information call the BASC press office on 01244 573031.

[Simon Clarke]

DEFRA news release:

 

 

News Release News Release ref :113/05

Date: 9 March 2005

 

GENERAL LICENCES – CHANGES EXPLAINED

 

 

Defra has today published changes to its guidance on the control of bird species under the so-called “general licence” following some misinterpretation of the new system.

 

Some landowners and other stakeholders had interpreted new guidance published to coincide with the recent review of the Wildlife and Countryside Act to mean that they would have to try non lethal means of pest control and to demonstrate the fact before resorting to shooting species on the general licence.

 

This is not the case and was not the intention of the new guidance. It has always been the case under the 1981 Act that the killing of birds on the general licence has only been permitted where there is no other satisfactory solution for specific purposes, for example, preventing damage to crops or protecting public health and safety. That is because of legal obligations under the 1979 EC Birds Directive. In an attempt to clarify this in the new guidance, the impression was given of a change in how the general licences may be used. In order to clear up this misunderstanding the Department, has changed, with immediate effect, the wording of paragraph four of the WLF 18, WLF 100085, WLF 100088 general licences to -

 

“This Licence can only be relied on in circumstances where the authorised person is satisfied that appropriate non-lethal methods of control such as scaring are either ineffective or impracticable.”

 

 

 

Nature Conservation Minister, Ben Bradshaw, said:

 

“I hope that by making this change it is now clear to those who use general licences that there has been no change in how they may deal with pest species. Landowners, gamekeepers and others will continue to be able to shoot species listed on the general licence if they believe that to be the most sensible course of action. “

 

British Association of Shooting and Conservation, the UK's largest shooting organisation representing 122,000 people said “ BASC welcomes this clarification which makes it very plain that lawful pest control can continue”.

 

 

 

Press enquiries 020 7238 6698 ;Public enquiries 08459 335577;

Press notices are available on our website

www.defra.gov.uk

Defra’s aim is sustainable development

[Nicky]

What's this world coming to?

[Will Beasley]

What's this world coming to?

A ****-up of massive proportions in case you hadn't noticed! :thumbs:

[apbuild]

WE'RE ALL DOOMED!!!!!!!!!!

:thumbs:

[Whitebridges]

Will, nice bag cartridge bad I bought from you, cheers.

So we can carry on as before then? Do these academics ever come up with anything that actually means **** all?

[Staffs-Shooter]

The wording has now been changed to make it plain that an individual who is shooting under the terms of the licence need only be “satisfied” that scaring birds away would be impracticable or ineffective.

Now im satisfied!

[old rooster]

From the results I've had on OSR lately I'm putting in for bird scarer of the year award, one shot and 2,000 pigeons head for the ******* horizon !!!

[Catamong]

The words "wedge" and "thin end" come to mind when reading this sort of thing..!!

 

We all need to be very careful that those misguided individuals who think that foxes are lovely furry little things that do no harm in the countryside will now turn their attentions to shooting, (and Fishing..!!), now that foxhunting is effectively outlawed.

[Simon Clarke]

Carry on as before.

Operate under the licences, as you have been doing since 1990.

It might come down to a small word or two, but Staffs Shooter seems to have got the gist of it.

It's been hard work, but you're welcome.

[old rooster]

The words "wedge" and "thin end" come to mind when reading this sort of thing..!!

 

We all need to be very careful that those misguided individuals who think that foxes are lovely furry little things that do no harm in the countryside will now turn their attentions to shooting, (and Fishing..!!), now that foxhunting is effectively outlawed.

Just take em to have a gander at a Halal butchers mate :thumbs:

 

I'm off to bed before I get any more hate mail

[Staffs-Shooter]

It might come down to a small word or two, but Staffs Shooter seems to have got the gist of it.

It's been hard work, but you're welcome.

Yours as ever satisfied :thumbs:

 

Seriously we shouldn't panic. The Anti's are everywere! BUT SO ARE THE ENTHUSIASTS!

 

I'm a Countryman, I love my shooting (game, pigeon & wildfowl), I love my fishing, I love the Countryside - I'm not about to sit back & let the townies dictate what i can & cannot do.

 

The March in 2002 raised in excess of 400k of marchers mainly from the hunting set of Field Sports.

 

I have to admit i did not march to which im embarassed however im sure that should the issue of shooting being banned be raised the numbers marching would be substantialy more & this time it would include me.

[The Sniper]

What a bit of good news this is. They have changed the wording to make it clearer. I think this a victory for commom sense prevailing.

 

I wonder if changing the wording has anything to do with the fact that people like myself bombarded them with emails, asking for clarification about the definition of non-lethal alternatives etc etc ?

 

Or do you think BASC and CA asking for clarification had more impact than me asking ? :thumbs:

 

Personally I don't think that any ban was on the table from Defra. I think this is just another example of poorly thought out laws. ( We seem to be having a lot of them just lately, don't we ?)

 

[Country Boy]

A STORM IN A TEACUP?....modifications to wording of new rule no.4 in the open general licence under which we all operate!

 

It is extremely worrying that whoever was responsible for and approved the original wording of ruling number 4 are clearly dealing with matters of which they know sweet FA.

I think we should be able to find out the reasoning behind it, because it stinks somewhere.

 

This Labour government has clearly demonstrated it suffers from the 'bambi syndrome' which has spread completely through the DEFRA, the BBC, the RSPCA, and the RSPB.

 

So who should we vote for at the forthcoming general election ? - remember it was the then Conservative Home Secretary Michael Howard who put the seal of approval on the Handguns Ban!!!!!

[greeneddie]

Defra's cock up in their orginal wording has only helped raise awareness in all who shoot as to how vulnerable our freedom has become under this government.

 

At least in this case I see that shooters are the winners in as far as we are now all more educated against how easily a threat to our way of life can be created and those that weald power have had a lesson in just how quick the shooting lobby are in picking up on a potential threat and taking action.

[2nd Barrel]

I agree.

 

To me this shows just how important BASC and CA now are to the continuation of shooting sports.

 

Lets make sure we keep giving them the public and private support that they need, and the funds to represent us.

[Ears]

expect the cpsa will do alright out of it be able to double the prices again. It looks to me that in the future if you are a vermin control comany or a gamekeeper you will be able to control vermin if that is your employment. if your not you will not be able to assist in vermin control. And the updates i am reading on the lobbiest to stop game shooting i dont think gamekeeping to safe either. So get writing to your local MP asap and complaine like **** yes get off your fat *****, and if you know any lobbiest invite them round for tea and explain your side of the story. seems like vermin control should be used on them. ( Thats how i feel, though unlawful )

[Wilts]

Game shooting will not last very much longer as which ever way you argue it, birds are being breed for the sheer pleasure of hunting them out with dogs and then shooting them. On small shoots, we could have argued that all birds are being shot for the pot but now it’s being ****** up by corporate shoots where a load of townies come out to play for the day and choose how many hundreds of birds they fancy killing that day. I doubt very much if they even take a bird home.

 

Now the corporate boys have latched onto “vermin” shooting to give the townies something to do out of season, you can buy a days pigeon shooting for around £ 60.00/gun, they supply the hides and decoys and will even drive you to your spot where if you can shoot straight (unlikely) you can blast away all day. This type of shooting will kill our sport and will lead to licensed vermin controllers.

 

As a land owner, it is very tempting to advertise a bit of shooting to bring in some extra cash and now that more farmers are taking the one off payment and do not have to farm anything, I can see this only get worse.

 

Oh Happy days

[Ears]

wilts

 

check this out.

 

what like www.R------.com or F------ . you are so very right. and theres plenty more to add to the list of *** robbers. if you put a legall bag limit on some of these companies say 200 bird days. half there custom from the city folk would perish and the game dealers markets might get better. As for the old vermin again correct, some people charge £100 per day for there woody shooting to teams of 4 nobs from foriegn and city dwellers the average is about £40 a day.

 

The above does not help. but we must focus on the antis that is were the problem lies.

Edited March 10, 2005 by Ears

[Wilts]

I've never been to a one day paid game shoot, do you know how many birds they normally shoot?? I know they put loads up

[Ears]

wilts.

 

shoots bag sizes are different, they differ from 50 bird days up to 500 or more but the price of birds shot also differs from around £22.00 to £38.00 per bird shot, depends on terrain and quality. The syndicate i shot on this season gone, averaged 75 birds per day with 8 guns but not so great. As a couple of new guns on this syndicate were shooting birds far to low even after being spoken to by fellow guns. And when confronted saying they had paid and wanted some shots for their money. some places where i go beating they shoot 300 to 400 bird days some others 200 bird days. any body shooting game birds should quickly learn it not about shots for money its about sport and enjoyment. let low birds alone for another day. if you cannot afford to shoot game and the money is on your mind or trigger happy, please stay at home.

[ollie]

On my fathers syndicate shoot (which is small) they shoot about 15-20 birds a day between about 7 guns and they don't shoot everything, they pick the sporting shots.

 

They also had 6 guns who paid for a days shooting this year and they were allowed 6 birds each which is sensible. The guns had a great day with really challenging birds and booked themselves for next season on the spot.

[Wilts]

Thanks for the info, seems the sport is getting lost somewhere along the line

[Guest flightline]

A STORM IN A TEACUP?....modifications to wording of new rule no.4 in the open general licence under which we all operate!

 

It is extremely worrying that whoever was responsible for and approved the original wording of ruling number 4 are clearly dealing with matters of which they know sweet FA.

I think we should be able to find out the reasoning behind it, because it stinks somewhere.

 

This Labour government has clearly demonstrated it suffers from the 'bambi syndrome' which has spread completely through the DEFRA, the BBC, the RSPCA, and the RSPB.

 

So who should we vote for at the forthcoming general election ? - remember it was the then Conservative Home Secretary Michael Howard who put the seal of approval on the Handguns Ban!!!!!

Not quite correct. There was no justification for Howard`s partial ban but it was Blair who extended it to include .22 calibre as well. I know who I am going to vote for. The Party that has pledged Parliamentary time for a repeal of the foxhunting ban-leader a certain Mr Howard.

[Lurch]

I seem to remember a Mr Swift telling us we didn't need to take any notice of the first edition of the general licence. Now we are to give thanks to BASC because it has changed?

 

Hmmmmmm......