Steven Mace
03-08-2002, 05:35 AM
Byers bids to ban clay pigeons
By Charlie Jacoby
07/03/2002
Despite the Labour Government`s pledge to leave shooting alone, the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (DTLR) - headed up by spin-king Stephen Byers - has published a planning consultation paper outlining changes that could force most clay pigeon clubs to close.
The new planning proposals – if made law – would compel clay shoot organisers to apply for planning permission every time they want to hold an event – effectively putting an end to the activities of many small clubs.
Under the existing law – the Town and Country Planning General Development Order – a clay shoot can be held on land up to 28 times a year without permission. But the new proposals would put a cap of seven days per year on each location – clearly an impossible situation for the vast majority of Britain’s clay pigeon shooting clubs.
The rationale behind the proposals appears to be based on “concern…about the noise…which can carry for up to three or four miles away.” Quite clearly, someone needs to do their research properly. At best it is inept – and at worst, disingenuous – to base consultation papers on inaccurate and misleading information like this.
The British Shooting Sports Council (BSSC) has condemned the plan – and BSSC secretary Pat Johnson is furious that no shooting organisation was consulted during the research for the consultation paper.
“The Council became aware of a consultation by DTLR on possible changes to Temporary Use Provisions under General Development Orders”, said Pat Johnson, BSSC Secretary. “That obscure title hides the fact that the Department has conducted research – which did not involve any approach to the shooting community – and has come up with conclusions which would be devastating to the many clay pigeon shoots.”
“The Consultation Paper does not offer any evidence about the scale of the problem identified nor have the researchers quantified complaints against the number of occasions on which such clay pigeon shoots take place.”
One of the main planks of policy towards Government by organisations such as the BSSC and the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) is that they have the ear of Government. This means they can extract commitments such as the one last year from Charles Clarke, Minister of State at the Home Office, who said: "It is not the intention of this Government to ban all firearms." But in realpolitik, anti-shooting elements of the Government know there is more than one way to skin a cat.
http://www.leadshot.com/story.asp?id=472
Steve Mace
By Charlie Jacoby
07/03/2002
Despite the Labour Government`s pledge to leave shooting alone, the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (DTLR) - headed up by spin-king Stephen Byers - has published a planning consultation paper outlining changes that could force most clay pigeon clubs to close.
The new planning proposals – if made law – would compel clay shoot organisers to apply for planning permission every time they want to hold an event – effectively putting an end to the activities of many small clubs.
Under the existing law – the Town and Country Planning General Development Order – a clay shoot can be held on land up to 28 times a year without permission. But the new proposals would put a cap of seven days per year on each location – clearly an impossible situation for the vast majority of Britain’s clay pigeon shooting clubs.
The rationale behind the proposals appears to be based on “concern…about the noise…which can carry for up to three or four miles away.” Quite clearly, someone needs to do their research properly. At best it is inept – and at worst, disingenuous – to base consultation papers on inaccurate and misleading information like this.
The British Shooting Sports Council (BSSC) has condemned the plan – and BSSC secretary Pat Johnson is furious that no shooting organisation was consulted during the research for the consultation paper.
“The Council became aware of a consultation by DTLR on possible changes to Temporary Use Provisions under General Development Orders”, said Pat Johnson, BSSC Secretary. “That obscure title hides the fact that the Department has conducted research – which did not involve any approach to the shooting community – and has come up with conclusions which would be devastating to the many clay pigeon shoots.”
“The Consultation Paper does not offer any evidence about the scale of the problem identified nor have the researchers quantified complaints against the number of occasions on which such clay pigeon shoots take place.”
One of the main planks of policy towards Government by organisations such as the BSSC and the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) is that they have the ear of Government. This means they can extract commitments such as the one last year from Charles Clarke, Minister of State at the Home Office, who said: "It is not the intention of this Government to ban all firearms." But in realpolitik, anti-shooting elements of the Government know there is more than one way to skin a cat.
http://www.leadshot.com/story.asp?id=472
Steve Mace