Members of the public may ask questions or make statements at this meeting if they have given notice to Mark Codman of Democratic and Scrutiny Services and supplied the text (contact details below) by midday on Wednesday 6 September 2023, three working days before the day of the meeting. Each speaker should limit themselves to 3 minutes on any item. Members of the public who have given notice will be invited to speak:-
· at this point in the meeting if their questions/statements relate to matters which are not otherwise on the Agenda (subject to an overall time limit of 30 minutes);
· when the relevant Agenda item is being considered if they wish to speak on a matter which is on the Agenda for this meeting.
If you are exercising your right to speak at this meeting, but do not wish to be recorded, please inform the Chair who will instruct anyone who may be taking a recording to cease while you speak.
Minutes:
The was one public statement received in relation to Agenda Item 5 – the proposal to ban trail hunting on council owned land, from Mr Damien Readman, as follows:
“My name is Damian Readman, I come from Snainton and work as a full-time farrier.
Thank you for the opportunity to address you today. I appreciate that not all of you will have extensive knowledge about trail hunting and other lawful hunting activities so I just wanted to give you a brief overview from my perspective.
I am a joint-master of the Derwent Hunt which is a voluntary position and as part of that team I am effectively one of the managing directors of our hunt. The hunt employs two people on a full-time basis who are assisted by many other volunteers.
Our hunt accesses council-owned land throughout the season and it is our wish that you continue to permit us to do so and that you enable tenant farmers to make their own decisions regarding the land for which they are responsible. I would like to remind this meeting that trail hunting complies with the Hunting Act 2004 and it is conducted by over 230 packs of hounds which are registered with our governing body, the British Hound Sports Association.
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.
I haven’t see any call for the council to consider banning dogs being exercised on council-owned property, yet hunts are being targeted as part of a wider campaign by animal rights activists. False information and heavily-edited footage is being used in an attempt to persuade both private, public and institutional landowners that hunts should be banned from accessing their land. North Yorkshire Council is just one of a number of local authorities which has had similar motions proposed by Labour candidates. I strongly believe that it is for Parliament to make laws and new legislation with regards to wildlife and, since 2004, Parliament has seen no reason to make any amendments to the Hunting Act. Neither should it be for regional councils to pre-emptively determine that a legal activity, such as trail hunting or hound exercise, is illegal or should not be conducted on their property.
In all walks of life there are rule breakers and admittedly there have been a handful of convictions under the Hunting Act where hunts have broken the law but with over a quarter of a million hunting days having taken place since the Act was enforced in February 2005, it really is a tiny percentage and not representative of the activities of the majority of hunts who hunt within the law at all times. Speeding is illegal, but there have not been any calls to ban cars from accessing council-owned land. Why should trail hunting be any different?
Hunting is already well-regulated. Like any small business we comply with employment legislation, health & safety and all other laws, of which the Hunting Act is just part and parcel. I believe there is absolutely no reason for North Yorkshire or any other council to ban hunting from its land when it is a legal and well-regulated pursuit that benefits physical and mental health, supports local businesses and binds rural communities together while helping to maintain the countryside that is so vital to the rural economy.
Thank you for your time today and may I take this opportunity to extend an invitation to any members of this committee to visit our hunt kennels in Snainton ahead of making your representation to the full council in November.”
The Chair thanked Mr Readman for his submission and contribution to consideration of the Notice of Motion and agreed to move to the next item on the agenda so that the issues could be debated.