Hunting to continue on National Trust land after vote

THE National Trust motto “For ever, for everyone” could easily be adopted by the hunting world.

The organisation appreciates the importance of our heritage and open spaces while aiming to preserve them for everyone.

Much the same can be said for the hunting community, whose supporters also routinely tender farmland, woodland, moorland, hedgerows and other parts of the countryside. The same people — many from donor families or trust tenants — have been fighting to protect the future of hunting.

Despite the “elitist” tag our opponents use to condemn those who follow hounds, hunting is a broad church that welcomes everyone, much the same as the trust does. We are approaching the end of the CA’s annual newcomers’ week, when hunts invite people to try hunting for the first time. As always, it has been hugely successful, with packs reporting many new subscribers, plenty of which will be able to follow their newfound passion on National Trust land.

The result of the latest battle is a clear indication that hunting is not a subject that interests the majority of the British public. More than 99% of the trust’s five million members — who represent a huge cross-section of society — took a decision to allow it to continue, either by voting against the motion or not voting at all. This is in stark contrast to the unsubstantiated figures the animal rights lobby uses when claiming the majority of the public want to ban our activities.

With this important ruling behind us we can now look forward to the start of the season, which would not be possible without our generous landowners — including the National Trust and its tenants.