Cherwell's Tories kick out motion calling for a ban on trail hunting on public land

Cherwell's Conservative councillors have thrown out a motion calling for a ban on trail hunting on publicly-owned land.
Cllr Ian Middleton (Green) whose motion to ban trail hunting on publicly owned land was voted down by Cherwell District Council this weekCllr Ian Middleton (Green) whose motion to ban trail hunting on publicly owned land was voted down by Cherwell District Council this week
Cllr Ian Middleton (Green) whose motion to ban trail hunting on publicly owned land was voted down by Cherwell District Council this week

The motion was brought by Green councillor Ian Middleton who asked yesterday's (Monday) council meeting to follow Cheshire and Peterborough councils and a number of national park organisations, such as the National Trust, in banning trail hunting on their land.

The move follows the release of a video, secretly recorded by the Hunt Saboteurs Association, in which, allegedly, key members of the hunting community described trail hunting as a 'smokescreen' for hunts that wish to follow live prey.

The video is being investigated by the police but anti-hunt campaigners maintain it makes any organisation that facilitates hunting on its land complicit in an illegal activity. Hunting with dogs was outlawed by the Hunting Act in 2004.

Hounds kill a fox during a recent trail hunt at ArlescoteHounds kill a fox during a recent trail hunt at Arlescote
Hounds kill a fox during a recent trail hunt at Arlescote

"There is a conspiracy to break the law by some members of the hunting fraternity," Mr Middleton said. "The vast majority of people in this country do not believe chasing an animal across the countryside until it's exhausted and then having a pack of dogs rip it to pieces constitutes acceptable behaviour in a modern, civilised society."

He said drag hunting, in which an artificial scent such as aniseed is dragged along a route, was an old tradition that worked, did not result in a kill and gave riders their sport. He differentiated this with 'trail' hunting in which, he suggested, hunts were using animal scent such as fox urine, allowing hounds to become confused and seek out, follow and kill foxes.

He described the Hunting Act as a 'badly drafted bill', drawn up by those who wanted to keep hounds practised pending an early repeal of the Act and which makes any conviction for infringement reliant on proving intent.

"Using a real fox scent makes it more likely that hounds could become confused and accidentally pick up on the scent of a live fox and chase it and this is made even more likely by laying trails through areas known to contain active fox habitats," he said.

Cllr James Macnamara (Conservative) who described the motion 'completely bonkers'Cllr James Macnamara (Conservative) who described the motion 'completely bonkers'
Cllr James Macnamara (Conservative) who described the motion 'completely bonkers'

His motion said: "Council calls on the leader to write to hunt masters in and around the district and Thames Valley Police, making it clear that, while investigations into trail hunting are ongoing, hunts will not be permitted to cross public or council controlled land or cause a nuisance on public highways within Cherwell and that we will expect any such encroachments to be prosecuted to the fullest extent."

However Mr Middleton's motion received short shrift from many Conservative councillors.

Cllr James Macnamara called it 'completely bonkers' and said: "This council is facing really serious issues that matter to our residents' livelihoods, health, death, sickness. We are grappling with those issues and we're grappling with the financial impact on this council."

Mr Macnamara said the council owned little land other than car parks, the shopping mall and some verges.

"And we're being asked to pass a frivolous, vacuous and completely pointless motion. How does that make us look? Regardless of the merits of this motion this is a serious reputational issue. What are our residents going to think of us if we fritter away our time worrying about illegal activity on land that we don't own. We should kick this thing out and get back to the serious business of this council."

Cllr Perran Moon (Labour) said: "No one who believes in the rule of law and order can realistically justify voting against this motion. So let's use this opportunity to express this council support for the rule of law."

The League Against Cruel Sports Director of Campaigns, Chris Luffingham, said. "The League was disappointed to see a motion to ban ‘trail’ hunting on Cherwell District Council land defeated last night.

“I’d like to thank those councillors and their supporters who put so much energy into the campaign to ban trail hunting on council land in Cherwell.

"It is a travesty that other elected representatives in the council chamber refused to acknowledge the substance of the motion and the facts placed before them."

The Countryside Alliance described the motion as 'meaningless, time wasting, grandstanding political gestures that have no real basis in reality'.

"Rightly, opponents to motions which attempt to curtail trail hunting point out that council time and resources should be spent dealing with local matters that matter to local residents," it said.

The motion was lost by 14 votes to 29 with one abstention.