Peterborough councillors REJECT 'divisive' and 'discriminatory' anti- Festival of Hunting motion

On Wednesday 29^th July 2021, Peterborough City councillors voted down a 'divisive' and 'discriminatory' motion which, if successful, would have instructed council leaders to write to the East of England Agricultural Society to request that it no longer hosts the Festival of Hunting at the East of England Showground.

In a packed meeting of the council held late last night, councillors voted 30-25 against the motion which had been submitted by Councillor Ansar Ali.

This is was the second time Cllr. Ali had called for an extraneous vote on a hunting issue. In December last year, the council narrowly voted to ban trail hunting on all council land, despite no hunting ever taking place on their land.

Although the Festival of Hunting takes place on privately owned land and cannot be cancelled by the local authority, the proposed motion prompted criticism from the Countryside Alliance for 'wasting vital council time'.

Only last week, thousands gathered at the East of England showground for the annual event, now in its 133rd year, with hounds from kennels nationwide taking part.

Speaking ahead of the vote, Richard Bramley, Chairman of the East of England Agricultural Society commented: "The Society is proud of its connection with the Festival of Hunting and the Peterborough Royal Foxhound Show which has taken place since 1878. No hunting activities actually take place throughout the course of the day of the show, it is simply an opportunity to celebrate and showcase the different types of hounds including beagles, basset hounds and foxhounds. The hounds are entered into different classes where they are judged on their conformation and movement in the same way that other breeds of dog are judged at Crufts.

"The Society hosts a number of events on the Showground, which, in any normal year bring in excess of £20 million into the local economy. There are numerous other associated jobs linked to the venue such as catering, hospitality, security, electrical installation, sound and light as well as many local event organisers, a large number of which are engaged for the Festival of Hunting too."

As the debate unfolded, councillors lined up to condemn the motion, with one calling it 'nonsense'.

Speaking to Cllr. Ali, the Council leader, Cllr. Wayne Fitzgerald said: " I have no idea why you would put this motion forward because it's the same nonsense as the previous one about trail hunting…it's political posturing about fox hunting and infiltrators trying to use this council to get their point of view across on something that is not for us to discuss. There are jobs and livelihoods at stake in country pursuits."

Cllr. Peter Hiller, the cabinet member for strategic planning and commercial strategy and investments, reiterated that the 'discriminatory' motion would achieve nothing as the event is held on private land and that the council should maintain its strong links to the rural world.

He said: "The Festival of Hunting takes place on privately owned land. It cannot be cancelled by a local authority, so even if the council votes to support the motion it will achieve nothing other than wasting officers' time, tax-payers money and council resources which would be better spent helping Peterborough residents out of this pandemic. I'm not supporting what can only be described as gesture politics."

He added: "Mr Mayor, I think it is important to maintain the close association that Peterborough has had with our rural past and to support our vital rural economy. Therefore I cannot support this divisive and discriminatory motion."

Cllr. Andy Coles, Conservative member for Fletton and Woodston, questioned the dangerous precedent that could follow if the motion was passed.

He said: "If you really want to ban lawful events perhaps we should stop the dog show down there because it's a companion animal and animal extremists don't like the idea of companion animals because we're obviously abusing them."

He added: "Or maybe we'd like to ban Truckfest because it might be environmentally unsafe to support people driving lorries.

"I'm sorry, but this is a ridiculous motion."

Conservative member for Wittering, Cllr. Gavin Elsey, said that of the emails he had received from people actually living in the city, most were against the motion: "My inbox was also inundated both for and against and when I discounted all the CB, MK and London postcodes, there were very few from Peterborough who were actually FOR this motion. However the ones against this motion were people I actually represent in my ward and in neighbouring villages."

While Cllr. Ali remains suspended from the Labour Party, he was joined in support by former Labour colleagues and as well as some Liberal Democrats some of whom screeched 'shame' as the vote tally was read out.

Polly Portwin, the Alliance's Director of Hunting said: "We are incredibly pleased that local councillors have rejected this divisive and ill-advised motion. Although it would have achieved nothing in reality, it would have wasted council time and resources which would clearly be better spent on helping the local community. We would like to thank our supporters in the Peterborough area for lobbying their representatives, as well as those councillors that took on board the points raised in our communication with them. Long may Peterborough be home to the Festival of Hunting."