On 19th July 2023, North Yorkshire Councillor Rich Maw proposed a motion to ban trail hunting and hound exercise from North Yorkshire owned land. Easingwold Against Foxhunting, Action Against Foxhunting and Protect the Wild all supported Mr Maw. The details of the campaign are below. But, the motion went to committee for deliberation, so there is still work for us to do. Please see UPDATES.

update 8th September 2023

The Committee Meeting concerning the ban will be held on 11th September 23. This committee will make recommendations about the ban to the council, then the motion will be discussed and voted on. It is important to continue to email councillors to ask for their support. This is Paul Hildreth’s latest email – you may copy/paste/adapt as you please. SCROLL DOWN and you will find all the councillors’ emails.

I just wanted to email you again ahead of the committee meeting about trail hunting on Council Land in North Yorkshire.

I wanted to remind you that Trail Hunting has been shown to be a cover for illegal activity. The hunts themselves confirmed this in the now infamous webinars – even the police are now recognising this Some forces are recognising hunts as Organised Criminal Gangs (OCGs). Also as a result of the webinars and the growing recognition that trail hunting is simply a cover for illegal fox-hunting, a number of major landowners have now banned all trail-hunting from their land.

In a previous email I also pointed out the various implications for Councils and landowners if they continue to allow ‘trail’ hunting to continue on their land.

Polls regularly return 85% of the population being opposed to fox-hunting. Councillors must ask themselves, as representatives of the public, if it is appropriate to support and facilitate the illegal killing of wildlife. Is this what councillors are really elected for?

Make no mistake – a vote against this motion is a vote FOR animal abuse.”

On 6th September, the Gazette Herald published an article about the proposed ban. Both sensible and supportive.
https://www.gazetteherald.co.uk/news/23770695.trail-hunting-ban-unenforceable-right-thing-do/

On 4th September, PTW published an article which included a picture of all the areas that would be affected by the ban.
https://protectthewild.org.uk/news/we-created-map-north-yorkshire-showing-effect-council-ban-hunting-could-have/

UPDATE 18th August 2023

The motion to ban hunting on North Yorkshire owned land is still with the Committee. We are encouraging members of the public to continue to put pressure on North Yorkshire Councillors, while we are waiting for them to finish deliberating. Here is a suggested email for you to send:

Email to councillors

You can adapt the email as you please. Below, are the councillors and their emails. As there are loads of them, you might like to select six at random (from anywhere in the list – don’t just choose the top six), click on them and send the email.

Cllr.Alyson Baker: Cllr.Alyson.Baker@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Andrew Lee: Cllr.Andrew.Lee@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Andrew Murday: Cllr.Andrew.Murday@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Andrew Williams: Cllr.Andrew.Williams@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Andy Brown: Cllr.Andy.Brown@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Andy Paraskos: Cllr.Andy.Paraskos@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Andy Solloway: Cllr.Andy.Solloway@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Angus Thompson: Cllr.Angus.Thompson@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Annabel Wilkinson: Cllr.Annabel.Wilkinson@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Arnold Warneken: Cllr.Arnold.Warneken@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Barbara Brodigan: Cllr.Barbara.Brodigan@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Bob Packham: Cllr.Bob.Packham@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Bridget Fortune: Cllr.Bridget.Fortune@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Bryn Griffiths: Cllr.Bryn.Griffiths@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Carl Les : Cllr.Carl.Les@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Caroline Dickinson: Cllr.Caroline.Dickinson@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Caroline Goodrick: Cllr.Caroline.Goodrick@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Chris Aldred: Cllr.Chris.Aldred@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Cliff Lunn: Cllr.Cliff.Lunn@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Clive Pearson: Cllr.Cliff.Lunn@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Dave Whitfield: Cllr.Dave.Whitfield@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.David Chance: Cllr.David.Chance@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.David Ireton: Cllr.David.Ireton@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.David Jeffels: Cllr.David.Jeffels@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.David Noland: Cllr.David.Noland@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.David Staveley: Cllr.David.Staveley@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.David Webster: Cllr.David.Webster@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Derek Bastiman: Cllr.Derek.Bastiman@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Eric Broadbent: Cllr.Eric.Broadbent@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Felicity Cunliffe-Lister :Cllr.Felicity.Cunliffe-Lister@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Gareth Dadd : Cllr.Gareth.Dadd@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.George Jabbour: Cllr.George.Jabbour@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Greg White: Cllr.Greg.White@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Hannah Gostlow :Cllr.Hannah.Gostlow@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Heather Moorhouse: Cllr.Heather.Moorhouse@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Heather Phillips: Cllr.Heather.Phillips@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Jack Proud: Cllr.Jack.Proud@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Janet Jefferson : Cllr.Janet.Jefferson@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Janet Sanderson: Cllr.Janet.Sanderson@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.John Cattanach: Cllr.John.Cattanach@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.John Mann: Cllr.John.Mann@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.John McCartney: Cllr.John.McCartney@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.John Ritchie: Cllr.John.Ritchie2@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.John Weighell: Cllr.John.Weighell@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Joy Andrews: Cllr.Joy.Andrews@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Karin Sedgwick: Cllr.Karin.Sedgwick@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Karl Arthur: Cllr.Karl.Arthur@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Keane Duncan: Cllr.Keane.Duncan@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Kevin Foster: Cllr.Kevin.Foster@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Kirsty Poskitt: Cllr.Kirsty.Poskitt@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Lindsay Burr: Cllr.Lindsay.Burr@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Liz Colling: Cllr.Liz.Colling@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Malcolm Taylor: Cllr.Malcolm.Taylor@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Mark Crane: Cllr.Mark.Crane@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Matt Walker: Cllr.Matt.Walker@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Melanie Davis : Cllr.Melanie.Davis@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Michael Harrison: Cllr.Michael.Harrison@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Michelle Donohue-Moncrieff : Cllr.Michelle.Donohue-Moncrieff@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Mike Jordan: Cllr.Mike.Jordan@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Mike Schofield: Cllr.Mike.Schofield@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Monika Slater: Cllr.Monika.Slater@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Nathan Hull: Cllr.Nathan.Hull@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Neil Swannick: Cllr.Neil.Swannick@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Nick Brown: Cllr.Nick.Brown@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Nigel Knapton: Cllr.Nigel.Knapton@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Pat Marsh: Cllr.Pat.Marsh@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Paul Haslam: Cllr.Paul.Haslam@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Peter Lacey: Cllr.Peter.Lacey@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Peter Wilkinson: Cllr.Peter.Wilkinson@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Philip Barrett: Cllr.Philip.Barrett@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Philip Broadbank: Cllr.Philip.Broadbank@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Phillip Trumper: Cllr.Phillip.Trumper@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Rich Maw: Cllr.Rich.Maw@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Richard Foster: Cllr.Richard.Foster@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Robert Heseltine: Cllr.Robert.Heseltine@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Robert Windass: Cllr.Robert.Windass@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Roberta Swiers: Cllr.Roberta.Swiers@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Sam Gibbs: Cllr.Sam.Gibbs@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Samuel Cross: Cllr.Samuel.Cross@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Simon Myers: Cllr.Simon.Myers@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Stephanie Duckett: Cllr.Stephanie.Duckett@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Steve Mason: Cllr.Steve.Mason@northyorks.gov.uk

Cllr.Steve Shaw-Wright: Cllr.Steve.Shaw-Wright@northyorks.gov.uk

UPDATES 20 July 2023 – Paul Hildreth

Just to give you an update – as expected they managed it kick it to committee for deliberation and it will come back to Council in November.

This is a shame as it will give the forces of evil time to mobilise – but it also gives us the opportunity to keep the pressure on and pursue a campaign of our own.

I’ll be chatting to Rich about a strategy but in the first place we are thinking that

(a) we need to identify the parties of the councillors – we don’t need to email Labour or green councillors so we’ll create a new list of email addresses

(b) we need to keep emailing the non-Labour and non-Green councillors from our own email addresses, maybe on a weekly basis. Maybe include some gory photos. Let them know what trail hunting is about and that if they vote against the motion they are voting in favour of animal abuse.

I’ll certainly be emailing and I am quite happy to put up all the emails I send in case people want to take any parts of them to adapt.

the mere fact that this was discussed in North Yorkshire of all place is a real indication o the shift in attitudes. Their days are numbered!

Once i have the new list of email addresses, I’ll circulate it

So – we have a campaign to pursue!

URGENT: North Yorkshire Councillor Rich Maw is proposing a motion to ban trail hunting and hound exercise from North Yorkshire owned land. This is a major step in such a pro-hunt area and Rich needs our help.

Here is a link to the motion:

https://edemocracy.northyorks.gov.uk/mgAi.aspx?ID=12830

and here is an extract:

“This council resolves to ban trail hunting, exempt hunting, hound exercise and hunt meets outright across all council land where legally possible, including any NEW tenancies where there are positive covenants attached to the land that currently require the council as owner to allow trail hunting events and formal gatherings.”

CALL TO ACTION

This is a race against time as the Countryside Alliance will now have seen the published motion and will be mobilising their forces to lobby councillors. Rich has asked for as many people as possible to email councillors to

Urge them to support the motion and
explain why trail hunting is being used as a guise for fox hunting (some Cllrs won’t have any idea) – add this link – explains everything https://www.actionagainstfoxhunting.org/how-do-we-know-they-are-foxhunting/
To apply pressure for a vote next week and prevent it being deferred
Click here for a template email

Here is a list of the councillors. We suggest that you select about ten at random and email them.