The Mayor of Easingwold Town Council is quite happy to let the York and Ainsty (South) Hunt take serious risks with public health and safety on Boxing Day. Why? This fiasco of a council meeting might give you a clue.
Paul Hildreth, Chairman of Easingwold Against Foxhunting, gives us the details.
On Tuesday November 16th 2022, I was suddenly informed that the Boxing Day Meet in Easingwold was on the Council agenda for that evening, start time 7pm. We have been objecting to the meet for a while now, and I was eager to speak at the meeting myself. But, I could not get there before 7.45. We asked for the item to be pushed back, so I could be there to identify the serious health and safety risks posed by the hunt’s public meet, which we had previously set out in a detailed letter. Even though I got there in time, the Mayor refused to allow me to speak.
When I arrived, I found the Mayor already leading the discussion on the meet, and steering it down a very narrow path.
- The Mayor expressed the opinion that the hunt meet was no different from ‘getting together with your mates in the market area’
- He focussed solely on the road closure aspect and simply repeated that the council has no legal powers in this area.
- He observed that where the council have made requirements (eg children’s bike ride) it is where they are involved and have put cones out.
- He noted that the hunt had been attending for many, many years.
- He said that there had not been any incidents yet
- One councillor claimed that the hunt ‘don’t actually hunt’
- The clerk reported that she had contacted an over-arching body for councils and confirmed that the Council has no legal powers for road closures. One councillor asked if preventing the hunt from meeting would open the council to a legal challenge.
Some comments were made in opposition to fox-hunting but the Mayor kept the (minimal) discussion to the road closure issue and thus the council voted to not do anything as they have no legal powers.
The issue of the Council’s responsibility for the health and safety of people using council facilities and land was totally ignored.
The Mayor did not want me to be heard. We know the council reached the agenda item at 7.42 and a councillor asked if it could be moved back a couple of minutes to give me time to arrive.
In the past, adjustments have been made for items on the agenda to be moved or for members of the public to speak later. The mayor refused point blank; he also refused any opportunity for questions. He clearly did not want a debate and simply used a narrow focus to steer the council in the direction he wanted to goThis experience tells us a lot:
- In the first place we cannot agree with the Mayor’s laughable comment that this is equivalent to ‘getting together with mates in the town square.’ This is an equine event – equine events are by definition high-risk and at least one horse that was present was wearing the red ribbon – a warning that the horse is a known kicker.
- As the Council’s responsibility for protecting public health and safety was the main thrust of our objections, we were obviously very surprised that the discussion solely focussed on an area where the council has no legal powers AND ignored an area where the council has a major responsibility – by ignoring this the council are surely abdicating their responsibility
- Given the Mayor’s comments, it is a reasonable assumption that the hunt actually erected barriers themselves on Boxing Day 2021, with no scrutiny whatsoever of any safety issues. This means that any organisation, commercial or otherwise, can hold a high risk event and cordon off part of the market place without any risk assessments or proof of insurance and without any intervention from the council.
- One councillor asked if contacting the hunt and asking them to meet on private ground would leave the council open to legal action. Obviously this fear would be totally unfounded, but the fear of legal action is clearly a concern to some. We therefore find it highly ironic that the council’s duty of care to people using council property was simply ignored. The Mayor’s comment that “there hasn’t been an incident yet” does not mean there won’t be one – a whole industry has grown up around seeing the potential for accidents and taking steps to prevent them before they happen. When there is an incident records will show that the council were warned in advance on more than one occasion and chose to take no action whatsoever. Surely that will leave them open to legal action!
So what’s next? In sport we say ‘we never lose. We either win or we learn.’ Well, at this meeting we learnt a lot. We will write to tackle the council on the above issues and we look forward to protesting the event again in December. Planning is underway. Brace yourselves!
The Mayor of Easingwold and the Boxing Day Meet Fiasco
Very suspicious. I imagine the majority of the hunt and their supporters don’t even live in the town. They still think that they can do what they want without any consequences.
Paul Hildreth has every right to be angry and I wish him luck with his campaign.
That’s all disgusting. By reading all this we can tell whose side the mayor is on, totally pro hunt. Can’t wait to stand with all at the boxing day protest.
In my eyes the council do have a say in the road closures for the HEALTH AND SAFETY of the non supporters of the fox hunting also the general public the dog’s are running about all over the place no control what so ever.
I think that the mayor was a bit out of order in not letting Paul Hildreth have his say
Public safety is so much more important than a hunt parade. The hunt parade is a silly propaganda exercise anyway, designed to dupe the public into thinking that the hunts are a jolly good bunch of people- when in fact they are just common criminals.