First trail hunting ban condemned as ‘political’ decision

A WELSH landowner has become the first to formally ban trail hunting after allegations that the sport is a “smokescreen” for the illegal killing of foxes.

Natural Resources Wales (NRW), the environment agency, said that it was ending all trail hunting “with immediate effect” after considering the recent conviction of Mark Hankinson, the director of the Masters of Foxhounds Association (MFHA), for encouraging huntsmen to use the activity as “a sham and a fiction” for killing the animals.

Several landowners, including Forestry England and the National Trust, paused their licensing when a criminal investigation was launched into Hankinson, but NRW is the first to announce its response to the verdict last month.

Only one hunt had a licence to use land owned by NRW and last night supporters said that the decision was a “purely political one, fuelled by the Welsh Labour Government’s ongoing attack on the rural way of life”.

Dominic Driver, land stewardship lead for NRW, which owns 7 per cent of land in Wales, said that it had “carefully considered the court ruling and our role” before deciding in a public meeting to end all licences for trail hunting “with immediate effect”.

“The outcome of the court case against a senior leader of the MFHA has resulted in a loss of confidence in the organisation’s ability to ensure its activities are carried out within the law and terms of its agreement,” he said.

Describing the decision as a “purely political one”, Rachel Evans, director of Countryside Alliance Wales, said: “It is indeed disappointing, but not wholly surprising that NRW have again channelled the political wishes of the Labour government in Cardiff.”