Hereford farmer cleared – and increase in number of dogs
Avery cold snap last week, cold enough to freeze water troughs, taps and cause a great deal of extra work, but far worse further north than it was in Sussex. It has felt even colder due to the north east wind, however it has dried things up a great deal and we hope to get our hedge-cutting done at Tillington this week as long as it does not rain too much. Animals don’t mind the cold at all and thrive if properly fed; it’s the wet weather they find much more miserable, especially if it goes on for weeks on end as it did this winter. Let’s hope we can begin to prepare for spring as it is just around the corner now.
The Government and the NHS and all concerned have had an amazing run with the
Covid vaccine and we have now vaccinated as many people in this country than the whole of the EU.
It’s not a competition of course but it shows how well everyone concerned has done and we should acknowledge that during these difficult times.
Do you remember the Hereford farmer who had carried out river maintenance and was in severe trouble with the Forestry Commission, Environment Agency (EA) and Natural England featured in this column? Farmer John Price has now been cleared by the Forestry Commission which will take no further action against him for the maintenance he undertook on the River Lugg at his own expense. The Forestry Commission spokesman said: “Following an investigation, we can confirm that the felling operations were undertaken with the authority of an approved conditional felling licence and no further action is to be taken.” This is no surprise as John Price stated that the Forestry Commission had no case, as he had a five-year licence to coppice trees along the river from Natural England; the only body that can give permission to fell trees on a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
Meanwhile, the councillor responsible for the Birch ward of Hereford County Council Sebastian Bowen told the Farmers Weekly that he, parishioners and local residents were present on Lugg Green Bridge, in Kingsland near Leominster, when three EA officials asked if Mr Price could complete the maintenance work on the river. This included clearing the third archway of the bridge, blocked for many years and needed unblocking to prevent further flooding.
“Mr Price was asked to do the work, and then a week later he was told to stop,” said councillor Bowen. He found it extraordinary that the EA had decided to launch an investigation. “They did not bother to tell Mr Price he needed a permit, they told him to get on with it,” said Cllr Bowen. “He did it all at his own cost which was very generous.”
The EA and Natural England are continuing their investigations, making it clear that it is all very serious and could lead to legal action. Herefordshire Wildlife Trust has accused Mr
Price of wilfully destroying a one-mile stretch of the protected river and claims he did not have the right environmental permits.
That in a nutshell sums up the world we live in today. A farmer undertakes a long overdue task of clearing a stretch of river and bridge which is partially blocked and as local citizens said, it was a great job done and the river performed as it should during the recent heavy rain and floods. Nevertheless, some clipboard jockeys and a bunch of environmentalists are doing their best to either punish such good works as it’s against their philosophy of how things should look or desperately trying to cover their tracks having made some sensible decisions which have now come back to bite them.
This is the attitudes we see as farmers these days, questioning everything we do and people are quick to criticise and accuse us of destroying something or other every day of the week, whilst demanding ever cheaper food and not caring much where it’s produced – the worst wanting to see agriculture returned to the 1930s, if it must exist at all, and a hatred of the very idea that science and technology will provide the answers; which they will. It’s not just in agriculture of course; we see extraordinary attitudes and some mind numbingactions every day from Swampy and his mates to university students who think that university experience is not about widening their horizons and learning how to think any more. No, it’s about protesting about statues and removing parts of our history; choosing to forget the bits which we don’t like or are embarrassed by, rather than putting it into context and perish the thought, learning from it. The frightening thing is that we now have our sovereignty back, at some cost, and who makes the decisions now; Parliament? I do wonder as
I see the furore over the proposed coalmine in Cumbria. Whether it’s a good idea or not is for others to decide and of course it will take some explaining, but it should not be the RSPB, Wildlife Trust, Oxfam, Save the Children, Christian Aid, Care International and others to decide. Who runs this country?
A man, who swept up leaves from his driveway and the pavement outside his house, disposed of them in the woods, which seems a fairly natural thing to do; leaves do fall from trees after all. The man, from Staffordshire, has been fined £150 for fly-tipping after being caught on camera and good old local councillor stated that it is still illegal to fly-tip waste even if it is bio-degradable. Meanwhile farm drives and field entrances are full of discarded fridges, and rubble, but then it’s harder and more dangerous to catch real villains.
I see that in the Republic of Ireland dogs are to be banned from walking public footpaths with their owners, such is the carnage caused by irresponsible dog owners and their casual attitude to stock worrying. Look at social media if you don’t believe me, it is quite educational to see how some dog owners think that their pooch is just playing a game and having fun chasing stock.
We had a puppy race into the yard the other day at Tillington, chasing around and trying to catch anything in site. The rather silly owner, who had no control whatsoever, could just as easily caused the puppy to be run over by a car. People are very quick to pass opinion on farming and how we do things, but their own actions, however reckless, are beyond reproach. The number of dogs around has increased worryingly over the last year as people have bought puppies during lockdown.
The answer to all this; well if you listen to the woke brigade we should all attend unconscious bias classes! Given the dire straits of the economy and the need to really get this country back on its feet, I do hope some common sense arrives with the roadmap out of lockdown as there is much to do and we need to see more of the old British spirit in order to get things going again. Not sure if I am allowed to say that?