Welsh environment minister cancels meeting with BASC and CA

BASC is disappointed that Welsh environment minister Hannah Blythyn AM has cancelled a meeting due to be held next week.

The Minister had agreed to meet BASC and Countryside Alliance (CA) on Monday to discuss shooting in Wales and views she set out in a letter to Natural Resources Wales (NRW) on 9 July.

However, BASC has been told the minister did not consider it appropriate to meet to discuss the issues after she became aware that CA, BASC and the National Gamekeepers' Organisation have issued a letter before action to NRW calling on them to change their decision to end the leasing of land for pheasant shooting on the Welsh Government estate. A letter before action is a means of seeking to resolve a dispute without the need for recourse to the courts.

NRW’s board overturned a previous evidence-based decision in favour of shooting by voting to ban pheasant shooting on public land after receiving the minister's letter,.

BASC Wales director Steve Griffiths said: "BASC is disappointed that the opportunity to discuss this has been lost.

"We feel that the personal, face-to-face conversation with Hannah Blythyn could have opened the channel of communication with our members and people who shoot in Wales.

"We do not feel that the letter before action to NRW would have prejudiced the meeting with the minister. Our aim was to open a constructive dialogue with the minister. If she decides she still wants to sit down with us, our door is open.

"In the meantime, we would encourage our members and people who shoot in Wales to carry on fighting this."

BASC published a dedicated webpage to help challenge the ban imposed by NRW (https://basc.org.uk/nrw/).

Those who live in Wales can contact their AM at the click of a button here: https://basc.org.uk/political-affairs/am-lobbying/ and people outside Wales can contact the office of Hannah Blythyn AM here: https://basc.org.uk/political-affairs/email-the-environment-minister/ and Natural Resources Wales here: https://basc.org.uk/political-affairs/email-nrw/