Psyxologos Posted June 24, 2009 Report Share Posted June 24, 2009 (edited) The two posts I made here are not my find, I copy from another forum. Wildfowling featured well during last night's second reading of the Marine and Coastal Access Bill, with three MPs talking specifically about wildfowling in relation to the need for holders of sporting rights to have a right of appeal on coastal access. The BASC website has been updated to reflect this significant development in the direction of a government-moved amendment to ensure that holders of sporting rights are included in the legal definition of "a relevant interest in land" in terms of a right of appeal. See the relevant text from the discussion below. If you wish to read or watch the debate, there are links from the updated Key Issue feature on the BASC website. Martin Salter MP for Reading West Under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000-CROW-there is an appeals process, which is not only open to landowners, but to sporting tenants. For instance, that might mean the local angling club, which has some fishing on the tidal Stour in Dorset. It might mean the local wildfowling club-wildfowling is a far more working class sport than shooting on grouse moors. Under the CROW, the Labour Government gave the owner of the grouse moor the right to lodge an appeal, and the shooters on that moor have the same right. Under the Bill, however, the poor little wildfowling club will have no rights at all, if they are-as most of them are-sporting tenants. Many of us have received representations on that point from the British Association for Shooting and Conservation, an organisation for which I have a lot of time. It says: "The problem revolves around the definition of 'a relevant interest in land' within the Bill. . . It differs from the Countryside and Rights of Way Act, because it excludes holders of sporting rights-which of course include fishing" and wildfowling clubs. The Association goes on to say: "It seems that the civil servants have a poor understanding of shooting" and recreational angling "on the coast and have taken a position based on the lack of knowledge. . . It is ironic to see a Labour government giving grouse moor owners a right of appeal in CROW but dismissing the rights of wildfowlers, rough shooters and pest controllers. We will return to that issue in Committee, and I am sure that we can resolve it." James Gray MP for North Wiltshire I very much welcome the improvements to the Bill achieved in the other place [House of Lords], and especially the introduction of a right of appeal. That is very important, and it something for which the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee called. I hope that the Government will allow that provision to remain. Other aspects of detail need to be improved, and the hon. Member for Reading, West raised a most interesting point about the definition of "landowner". Moreover, the Bill simply ignores the question of sporting rights, but that is also something that needs to be looked at. Members of local wildfowling or angling clubs do not necessarily want walkers right beside them, and I am sure it must be possible to find ways to push them further away. Richard Benyon MP for Newbury I can assure him [Martin Salter MP] that the Opposition are deeply mindful of hard-working members of the public with wildfowling rights, for example. We will bear such issues in mind, and I look forward to working with the hon. Gentleman to support the interests of all legitimate users of coastal Britain. Edited June 25, 2009 by Psyxologos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pavman Posted June 24, 2009 Report Share Posted June 24, 2009 Lets hope our voice is loud enough well done BASC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David BASC Posted June 25, 2009 Report Share Posted June 25, 2009 This is an important issue, not just for wildfowlers and wildfowling clubs but for other shoots that are on or near the coast. Keep an eye on the BASC web site for details of this and all the other consultations we are involved in. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highlander Posted June 25, 2009 Report Share Posted June 25, 2009 If it's like everything else this b***** government do they talk with the experts and spend a large fortune on an enquiry then do exactly the opposite! The right to roam will be given so j public can wander at will where ever the fancy takes them and b******* to any landowners who thought they had private access. This doesn't of course apply to such organisations as RSPB or Wildlife Charities etc as they will be able (as they do now) to keep people off their territory except on those days when they want them there and can charge them to see how they want the countryside to look. :blink: Well done BASC for trying but if your efforts are anything like the Olympic Shooting Venue debacle then why bother! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David BASC Posted June 25, 2009 Report Share Posted June 25, 2009 We have to stand up and fight for want we need - not just BASC, of course we will always do our bit, that is what is expected of us - but it is down to you- the shooter, to lend a hand as well in many cases. We will not win every fight- sometimes the odds are simply stacked up against us come what may - but if we sit back and do nothing we will achieve nothing. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psyxologos Posted June 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2009 The information in the above post is taken from a longer piece on the BASC website, which is high profile on the home page. An update on this Commons debate and anything else new that develops on our work on coastal access may also appear in Wildfowling Fastrack, which should cover at least one or more contacts in every wildfowling club. However, in the near future i hope Fastrack would go to every contact in a club with an email address, which increases the chance of it reaching more than a handful of people per club. The recent change in the format for the BASC website has fostered a new way of presenting policy issues that BASC is working on, or has completed work on. Its early days yet, but have a look at it so far and if you want to refer people to what policy work BASC is doing for shooting, whether promoting or protecting, that's the place to look. http://www.basc.org.uk/en/media/key_issues.cfm Depending on priority and timing, various individual Key Issues topics are highlighted on the home page. These are switched on and off as policy issues update. So at the moment its coastal access in relation to the Commons debate, in a day or two it will be something else, and then coastal access might re-appear and so on. Key Issues topics overlap with our Consultations page and Responses to Consultations page, and also Political Affairs. People enter the website from multiple routes and interests, so the list of Key Issues is tailored to that. Its still early days and its ever expanding, and hopefully will gain in awareness, especially through Fastracks sent out and internet discussion forums picking up on issues raised in these pages from time to time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David BASC Posted June 25, 2009 Report Share Posted June 25, 2009 This is exactly right - we were very guilty in the past of not telling members, and other shooters, what we were doing, so with the new web site we have decided to make the distribution of information on all the Key issues projects that BASC are working on high profile on the home page of the BASC web site. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Potter Posted June 25, 2009 Report Share Posted June 25, 2009 This is exactly right - we were very guilty in the past of not telling members, and other shooters, what we were doing, so with the new web site we have decided to make the distribution of information on all the Key issues projects that BASC are working on high profile on the home page of the BASC web site. David Aye that well an good but I can still get me shootin surance 4 pence cheaper by joinin the Somezet Aged Conservatory Society. On a more serious note, a true indication of what BASC are trying to do on our behalf. Well done and keep it up. Mr Potter (I'd post a BASC sticker here if I knew how to go about it) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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