Welcome to the regional grass e-route for the East of England, June 2011.
New Season shoot packs and badges
Shoot badges - The Campaign for Shooting is proud to unveil the new shooting badges for the 2011-12 season. As in previous years, the season badge will be a minimum donation of £100 and the supporters badge will be a minimum donation of £10. Money raised from the sale of these badges goes directly to the Shooting Campaign to promote and protect our sport in the public, the media and in Parliament. The badges will be on sale from July onwards and can be ordered online or from your regional Shoot Campaigner. To pre-order your badge or to find the details of your local Shoot Campaigner, please contact cfs@countryside-alliance.org
Shoot packs - Although the shooting season has ended, preparations are well underway for the next season. This season why not register for your Shooting Campaign shoot pack? Shoot packs contain campaigning materials, game cards, sweep stakes and collection boxes for your shoot. In addition to the Shoot packs, if you would like to help sell Shooting Campaign Badges during the season, please indicate how many badges you estimate you would need. Badges will then be sent with your Shoot pack. Any unsold badges can be returned at the end of the season. To register for your shoot pack, please e - mail cfs@countryside-alliance.org or call David Taylor, Shoot Campaign Manager on 0207 8409253 or me on my contact numbers or e - mail address.
In addition, the Countryside Alliance has launched a ground breaking national survey to investigate the number of young people coming into shooting, and how they are being introduced. It is vital that as many people as possible take part - it only takes two minutes. Click here for the survey, which can also be reached via the Countryside Alliance's Campaign for Shooting webpage.
Bedfordshire Clay Shoot – Tuesday 21st June
The Bedfordshire Committee invite you to attend a clay shoot competition on Tuesday, 21 June at Sporting Targets, Riseley, Bedfordshire MK44 1BX from 3.30 p.m. onwards. Teams will be 4 guns and the shoot will comprise 50 birds from a number of varied stands. The team fee of £145 includes a buffet afterwards at the prize giving. For anyone interested in putting a team in please contact Susan August (01234 362900 or saa@robinsonandhall.co.uk) or Andrew Capel (01234 362916 ajc@robinsonandhall.co.uk).
8 per cent rise in cost of rural commute
The Countryside Alliance has today published new figures that show that from the first week of January to the first week of June the cost of the weekly commute for a rural worker has increased by £1.62 – an increase of almost 8 per cent – close to double the rate of inflation.
Rural isolation, combined with the continuing decline in rural bus and train services and the progressive closure of local services, means that a car is an essential necessity for rural life, not a luxury.
In addition, petrol prices at locally owned rural petrol stations are significantly higher than urban petrol stations as petrol cannot be bought in large quantities, which drives down the cost. In January 2011 there was a difference of as much as 5 pence per litre between rural and city garages in Wales.Alice Barnard, Chief Executive of the Countryside Alliance, said: “The rising price of fuel is an issue of national concern, but it is one that is most keenly felt in the countryside. With rural householders and businesses struggling to make ends meet, the high costs of motoring threaten to do genuine and long-term damage to the sustainability of the rural economy.The fuel duty stabiliser has failed to prevent the steady creep of oil prices skywards. At the Countryside Alliance we want to see the fuel rebate scheme trialled in the Northern Isles extended to other rural areas in the UK.”
Waste Review increases threat of fly tipping
Responding to the launch of the Government’s Waste Review, the Countryside Alliance – the leading voice of rural Britain and a member of the Government’s National Fly-tipping Prevention Group – has today criticised the minimal attention given to tackling the scourge of fly-tipping, despite the maintenance of fortnightly bin collections.
Alice Barnard, Chief Executive of the Countryside Alliance, said: “Of course the focus is on household bins, but this report misses the likely consequences of retaining fortnightly collections in the countryside: a higher incidence of fly-tipping.
“With well over half of all fly-tips involving household waste; we believe this figure can only increase, putting more pressure on the limited resources of local authorities, who are responsible for clearing up this blight.
“The Government has said it will consider the current levels of fines and sentencing for fly tipping, which is welcome, however, the number of successful prosecutions is pitiful. We are concerned that unless local authorities have the support to bring more fly-tippers to court, increasing fines will not act as a deterrent to the determined few.
“While the Review tries to delegate responsibility to cash-strapped councils trying to meet public demand for weekly collections and Government targets on recycling, victims of fly-tipping in the countryside are being largely ignored.”
New- look Countryside Alliance magazine
The Countryside Alliance's new-look membership magazine is now online. Previously entitled "Update", the refreshed version is simply called "Countryside Alliance" and draws its content from our short films and social media as well as from experienced contributors. Our new-look website, films, social media and this refreshed magazine ensure a clarity of message from the organisation and we hope you like this approach. The newly published summer magazine includes features on the Race for Repeal, our celebrity supporters, food labelling, hen harriers and our new National Shooting Survey. Contributing writers include Catherine Austen of Horse & Hound, Charlie Jacoby of FieldsportsChannel.tv, Christopher Middleton of the Daily Telegraph and Kate Reardon, editor of Tatler, who writes amusingly: "I know my place within the hunting hierarchy. It is soothing to know that no one is impressed with my lah-di-dah London life." Click here to read the magazine. | 
