[HPFGU-Catalogue] Re: right to roam

[Barry Arrowsmith]

>
>  Carolyn:
>  Bad!Bad!Anne..<g>.. footpaths dept here, for sure. [*Horror-struck*
>  at the idea of being taken for a fox hunter..]. There has recently
>  been some new legislation enacted, opening up some previously-closed
>  areas of the English countryside to walkers and ramblers, basically
>  on private land. More will be opened up progressively over the next
>  few years, and many keen walkers like myself have been out in autumn
>  sun this week taking advantage of our new liberties.
>
>  The landowners' issues have been about trespass, privacy, damage to
>  crops, frightening animals etc. But walkers are mainly an incredibly
>  responsible lot, and its been proved in many rural areas that they
>  are a major source of income for the local economy, so the landowners
>  have caved in at last - extremely reluctantly in some cases.
>

An alternative view.

Foxes are *officially* a pest. Control has always been encouraged, only 
from now on it'll be by shooting, traps or poison.

The hunting debate in the UK has nothing whatsoever to do with 'fox 
welfare' it's one of the old class hangovers.
Farmers tended to co-operate with local hunts and accepted a certain 
level of fox activity; if it got too bad, call the hunt. Now of course, 
there's no reason to tolerate foxes - since they're classed as vermin 
by the Ministry they'll be wiped out in the countryside within 5 years.

Round my neck of the woods walkers contribute practically nothing 
except rubbish, litter and aggravation to the farmers.
An  example - I was chatting to a local at the gate to a field with 
cows and calves in it. Along comes a family group, with a dog (on a 
leash). They were told not to enter the field, it was dangerous because 
of the dog. Abuse was the response, plus "we know our rights" - despite 
all persuasion they more or less forced an entry - and were promptly 
charged by the cows. Cows with calves at heel get *very* aggressive 
towards dogs.
Fine kerfuffle -  the upshot being that the walkers threatened legal 
action against the farmer for their own intransigence.

Too many can't seem to comprehend that  the  countryside is not a park 
- it's a workplace, and a dangerous one at that. Agriculture is second 
only to the building industry for the number of reportable workplace 
accidents and deaths. It'd be a good idea to require all walkers to 
take out insurance against any damage they may cause or any injuries 
they may incur.

Not for nothing are walkers known as 'plastic pigs' - they make a mess, 
are pig-headed and wear waterproof rain gear.

Barry
who believes that 'rights' should only be allowed if responsibilities 
are understood, accepted and if necessary enforced.
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: text/enriched
Size: 2913 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://archive.hpfgu.org/pipermail/hpfgu-catalogue/attachments/20040927/b82adb29/attachment.bin>