Hunting ban got backing from the rural communities too

From: Sam Foster, Selby.

AS a North Yorkshire native from a small farming community with experience of working on two farms in the region in my youth, I disagree most vehemently with the letter about hare coursing (The Yorkshire Post, March 6).

To simply suggest only urban dwellers fought for the 2004 Hunting Act is a fiction. Many of my rural peers see hunting of any kind to be mindless bloodsport.

This is shown by a YouGov poll from 2015 in which 49 per cent of rural people supported the hunting ban, with 39 per cent opposed (12 per cent not sure).

The Game and Wildlife Trust do not agree with the assessment that an abundance of hares may create such problems as the brown hare is subject to a biodiversity action plan.

The trust also state that brown hare numbers have fallen 75 per cent since the Second World War.

This is clearly at odds with the assertion that “hare coursing used to be a well-managed, organised and controlled legal activity”. So well managed that three-quarters of the population was lost in seven decades.

From: Dave Ellis, Magdalen Lane, Hedon.

AN important part of life for many living in the countryside are the agricultural and country shows highlighted by Sarah Todd (The Yorkshire Post, March 8).

One of Sarah’s concerns is that much of the local knowledge and expertise by stalwart committee members may be lost if this year’s shows cannot go ahead due to Covid restrictions.

Local community leaders, like parish chairs, need to encourage and give financial support to keep these committee members engaged in these shows which are so vital to all those living in rural communities.

From: Daniel Carey-Dawes, Head of Rural Economy and Communities, CPRE.

WE’RE glad new standards, including hedgerows and soil, are part of the new environmental land-management scheme.

CPRE has long been calling for these vital assets to be nurtured, not least for their role in tackling climate change through their carbon-storage potential.

Publication of initial payment rates will also give farmers a sense of what to expect so they can plan ahead to engage with the wider scheme in 2022.

But we are surprised the Government still lacks detail about what environmental outcomes are expected in return for the money invested and how it will contribute to meeting our 2030 commitments on nature or climate.