No Nonfire Night Sky lantern

The CLA in the South West is urging all landowners - public and private - to ban the use of sky lanterns on their property this Bonfire Night.




The Association, which has been campaigning for an outright ban, says the lanterns are little more than uncontrolled flying bonfires and put livestock, crops and buildings at risk.



CLA South West Director, John Mortimer, said: “Sky lanterns, or Chinese lanterns, have become increasingly popular around this time of year. Our concern is that, once launched, they are capable of travelling for miles at the mercy of the wind and it is impossible to predict where they will land.



“We are encouraging our members not to allow them to be used on their land or at their events and venues - and we are also asking the public to think again about the risks of using them.”



The CLA says that expired lanterns landing in fields pose a risk of serious injury and even death to livestock and wildlife which have been known to ingest the abandoned frames, whether wire or bamboo, and suffer painful - and sometimes fatal - injuries as a result.



“But the biggest risk is posed by fire. There is also no guarantee the flame will have extinguished before it lands, potentially triggering a blaze that could destroys crops, forestry and buildings. Until these lanterns are finally banned, we will continue to discourage their use,” said Mr Mortimer.

Bovine TB: Culling Trials have been democratically tested and must be allowed to proceed uninterrupted.

South West Landowners have thrown their weight behind farming minister David Heath’s calls for the badger cull pilot schemes to be allowed to go ahead without interruption from individuals or groups who disagree with the policy.

Trials are authorised to start tomorrow (1 June) to test whether shooting offers a humane and efficient option for culling infected badgers and CLA South West Director, John Mortimer, says it is essential that the pilot schemes are allowed to go ahead without disruption in order to get a clear answer to that question.

“These proposals have survived the democratic process, having been debated in Parliament and tested in the courts. The Minister spoke to us at length at this week’s Royal Bath and West Show and he has our unqualified support in calling on people not to attempt to disrupt the trials.

“For too long the debate has been clouded by politics rather than public interest and livestock farmers have been left fighting a disease with both hands tied behind their backs watching some 30,000 cattle - including pregnant heifers and calves - sent for slaughter every year. Now, for the first time in three decades, we have a Government which is prepared to put its head above the parapet and instigate an ongoing programme of control and containment,” he said.

 “Bovine TB is as debilitating a disease for wildlife as it is for cattle and yet the action to combat it has never been equivalent to the scale of the problem. The cost to the public purse will top a billion pounds over ten years but the cost in human terms, the misery and suffering caused to farming families, is immeasurable.”

Mr Mortimer said that on an issue as contentious as Bovine TB control it was inevitable that opinions will be divided - but the fact remained that badgers represent a significant reservoir of Mycobacterium Bovis, the bacterium which causes bovine TB and, where there were infected badgers, there was a TB risk to cattle, camelids and goats.

“In other parts of the world it has been accepted that without controlling the disease in wildlife there is little or no chance of bringing it back under control in farm and domestic animals.

“Everybody accepts that culling is only one part of a variety of measures that will have to be employed to beat this disease and that bio-security, cattle movement controls and, eventually, vaccine will all have a part to play. But there is currently no deployable vaccine which can cure an infected badger and there are no vaccines licensed for use in cattle either to prevent or control bovine TB.”

The Government and the industry had trod a rocky road to get to a point where licences have been issued to hold trial culls.

That has required political bravery and determination and it is now incumbent upon the rest of the population to allow these trials to be conducted in a proper manner because we should be under no illusion, without this action being taken as a matter of urgency we may never catch up with this disease and could find ourselves instead in a situation where livestock farming is unsustainable in our part of the world.”

Fight against rural crime is a two way street

Rural crime costs private landowners, rural businesses and individual householders millions of pounds a year and poses a real threat to the stability of the rural economy – but the fight against rural crime is a two-way street which requires action from the rural population as well as the police.

That’s the message the South West director of the Country Land and Business Association, John Mortimer, delivered to Avon and Somerset Chief Constable, Nick Gargen and the Police and Crime Commissioner,Sue Mountstevens, at the Royal Bath and West Show today (Thursday 30 May).

“Beating rural crime will involve farmers and landowners taking some ownership of the problem, ensuring that they have taken every possible precaution to make the criminals’ lives difficult – marking their property, fitting trackers and taking specialist security advice. But it also means the police responding in an appropriate and speedy manner. It means police improving their understanding of the impact of rural crimes and communicating much better with the victims of crime,” he said.

Top of the rural crime list – which is estimated to cost farmers and landowners more than £50 million a year – is the theft of machinery, such as quad bikes and other transportable equipment. Mr Mortimer says that owners can have a real impact on this by reviewing their security arrangements, fitting better locks and ensuring that their machines have trackers fitted. Sheep and cattle rustling, fly tipping, hare coursing and poaching and metal theft all feature on the rural crime hit list and Mr Mortimer says that the CLA in the South West is working closely with all police forces to improve best practice on both sides of the street.

“We recently held a series of very successful Rural Crime conferences in conjunction with Devon and Cornwall Constabulary and one of the key points to come out of that was the need for better communication from both sides. It is essential that farmers, landowners and people in rural communities report all crimes and suspicious activity and, as the Chief Constable told us, the most difficult crime to solve is the one that hasn’t been reported. Politicians and the police cannot get a clear picture of the reality of rural crime if people do not report it.

“Although crime in general is falling, rural crime is on the increase – even though we know that it is being under-reported. Sometimes we can be our own worst enemy but if we want to get rid of the scourge of rural crime then we have to meet it head on and have confidence in the police to deal with it.”

Mr Mortimer told the Chief Constable that the CLA welcomed the move to organise closer co-operation between the region’s forces at a strategic level in regard to such things as armed response units, but stressed that it was also important the police forces cooperated with each in order to bring criminals operating in our rural communities to justice.

New Year Focus on Combating Rural Crime

Landowners, farmers and businesses across Devon and Cornwall will be joining forces with the police early in the New Year to host two major events aimed at combating rural crime.

The events, titled ‘Preventing Crime in Rural Communities' take place in February and bring together representatives of the Country Land and Business Association, the National Farmers’ Union and the Devon and Cornwall Police along with experts from private security firms, the insurance industry and specialist equipment suppliers who will all be looking at the ways and means of preventing crime in rural communities.

Rural crime costs millions of pounds a year; it impacts on police resources and on insurance premiums – which makes reducing rural crime a key policy area for both police and representative organisations.

The events, which are sponsored by regional law firm, Foot Anstey and the NFU Mutual Insurance Society, will take place at Westpoint, Exeter on 1 February and at the Pavilion at the Royal Cornwall Show ground, Wadebridge, on 15 February. Both events are free of charge and offer a one-stop- shop style advisory service as well as an exhibition and trade stands, all focused on crime prevention. Seminars will operate on a “drop in” basis with sessions throughout the day examining different aspects of the law and the whole range of rural crime from farm and estate security to wildlife and equestrian crime.

One focus of the day will be to look at whether individuals and businesses are doing all they can to reduce opportunities for criminals.

Bob Bunney, crime reduction advisor with Devon and Cornwall Police, said: “We are very keen to help people understand how to take control of the situation, to learn exactly how much they can do themselves to help reduce rural crime and then to offer clear information about how to act and who to contact.”

CLA South West Director, John Mortimer will introduce a keynote speech from Assistant Chief Constable, Paul Netherton - who will talk about the reality of rural policing and the options for the future – and from NFU Vice President, Adam Quinney. A representative of the NFU Mutual Insurance Society will speak about the impact of rural crime on the insurance industry.

Mr Mortimer said: “We welcome this opportunity of working with the NFU and Devon and Cornwall police to highlight the growing menace of rural crime – and to explore ways of combating it.

“What is frequently not understood is that the true cost of farm theft and other rural crime is more than simply the value of the items taken. There is the cost of lost production time, of repairing the damage caused plus the risk of livestock straying due to gates being left open or fencing taken down.

“These events aim to improve awareness of the opportunities to reduce crime and to help the police engage with CLA and NFU members - and the wider rural

Community - in a drive to improve communications and deliver a service that meets expectations,” he said.

A full programme for each event can be downloaded from :

www.cla.org.uk/transfers/south-west/ruralcrimeagendacornwall.pdf

www.cla.org.uk/transfers/south-west/ruralcrimeagendadevon.pdf

To reserve a place at either of the events, contact the CLA South West Office on 01249 700281 or online at www.regonline.co.uk/claswevents

CLA Asks Candidates for their Vision of Rural Policing

Country people need to make sure their votes count in the elections for the new Police and Crime Commissioner in order to make sure the needs of the countryside are not forgotten or swamped by the demands of urban areas – according to the Country Land and Business Association.

At meetings across the South West this week, landowners have called on candidates standing for election as Commissioners on 15 November to make sure they understand the challenges of policing rural areas as they develop plans for managing the county constabularies.

The CLA has written to all the candidates standing for election pointing them towards its manifesto on rural crime and asking them to ensure that the rural dimension is given proper consideration and effective representation in any new structures.

CLA South West Director, John Mortimer, said: “Metal and fuel theft, poaching and fly-tipping are crimes that have a huge impact on rural businesses and communities – and it is vital that the needs of rural communities and the essential and ongoing fight against rural crime is properly understood by the candidates in these elections.”

The CLA is also looking for reassurance from the Commissioners that funds will be available to train officers on how to respond in rural areas and that they will make sure they are in touch with rural communities and rural issues by making contact with representative groups.

“We have over 6,000 members in the South West who own and manage the raw materials of economic activity - land and buildings - but a rural crime costs private landowners millions of pounds a year and poses a real threat to the stability of the rural economy.

“It is essential that these issues are fully and properly understood by the new Commissioner and that our members are represented on any partnerships he or she may seek to establish in the future. It is equally important that everybody who lives or works in the countryside makes sure their voice is heard by taking part and voting in these forthcoming elections,” said Mr Mortimer.

The CLA is concerned that diminishing budgets and increasing demands on police time could result in resources being directed towards favouring more heavily populated urban areas – and says it will be important for the new Commissioners to appreciate the genuine concerns of rural businesses and rural communities.

CLA look at private sector solutions for affordable housing

CLA look at private sector solutions for affordable housing

A Government report published earlier this year highlighted the need to increase the provision of let housing being built or financed by the private sector – yet many who attempt to venture down that route find themselves frustrated by rules and regulations, by unhelpful tax regimes and difficulties obtaining finance.

This month the Country Land and Business Association is offering would be developers a chance to hear expert guidance on finding the right way through the obstacles at a conference due to be held at Muddifords Court Country House, Willand, Cullompton.

CLA South West Director, John Mortimer, says many CLA members would like to help reduce the national housing shortage by increasing the number of new homes available to let in rural areas.

“In the past land owners made land available “outside the planning envelope” to allow for affordable housing but the ability to provide such housing and the encouragement to do so has gradually been eroded. With the new Localism Agenda  and a new CLA policy document on rural housing currently being debated, there could not be a better time for the CLA to engage with its members to highlight the opportunities that already exist and to seek new views on how the system might be changed for the better.”

The event will include presentations from the CLA’s own Housing Advisor, Danielle Troop,

who has previously worked on housing-led regeneration, and affordable housing delivery, will outline the political background to the rural housing agenda and the CLA’s policy objectives.

There will also be presentations from the Director of Rural Housing Solutions, Jo Lavis, from Simon Conibear of the Duchy of Cornwall who will talk about the Poundbury development, from Martin Page, Land Director of First Step Homes and from expert representatives of the sponsors, Savills and Clarke Willmott.

“There are obstacles which stand in the way of private sector investment in affordable housing, such as whether the localism agenda will encourage or thwart those ambitions; whether national planning policy will assist us in finding new ways to provide housing and what to do about a  tax system  that positively hinders growth for private landlords, we have assembled a formidable amount of expertise within our panel who, between them, will know how to pick a way through the minefield and discover the opportunities that lie on the other side,” said Mr Mortimer.

The event, titled “Rural Housing: The Challenges and Opportunities for Landowners” is being held at Muddifords Court Country House, Willand, Cullompton,  on Thursday 22 November from 1.30pm - 5.30pm the cost is  £20.00 for CLA Members and £35.00 non-members and tickets can be reserved via the CLA regional office on 01249 700200 or at southwest@cla.org.uk

Common Sense decision on Chinese Lanterns

31 October 2012

Common Sense decision on Chinese Lanterns  

The Government’s decision to take a close look at the risks posed by Chinese lanterns, or Sky Lanterns, is a breakthrough for common sense – according to the CLA in the South West.

But with Bonfire Night approaching, the CLA’s South West Director, John Mortimer, is asking people to think again before they include sky lanterns as part of their celebrations.

The Association, which has been part of the campaign for action to minimise the potential for damage from the lanterns, believes that the risk of fire to land and property, and threat to people, livestock and pets simply cannot justify the continued use of what many people are now coming to appreciate is far more than just a decorative light in the night sky.

CLA South West Director, John Mortimer, said: “Clearly the Minister has accepted our arguments that these devices do pose a threat to livestock, crops and property. Even some manufacturers seem to accept that there is an element of significant risk because of the detailed safety instructions they publish – but we say they are actually a potentially lethal fire risk.”

As well as the fire risk, the wire frames used in many of the lanterns have caused injury and proven fatal to livestock.

“Although there are safety instructions on many packs, the responsibility remains firmly with the person who releases the naked flame - and they have no control over where it lands. I would urge anyone considering using sky lanterns to think again and ask themselves if they would set one off towards their own house.”

Even in open countryside, dry crops such as hay and straw, barns, houses, farmyards, and woodland, people and animals could be put at risk. There is also widespread concern among the emergency services – particularly the coastguard - about their use.

“It cannot be right that one group of people’s so-called celebrations can cause at best anxiety, and at worst real damage, to others so we are please to read that the Government has decided to take this issue seriously and have a proper look at the safety issues,” he said.

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