Countryside Alliance - love the countryside

Figures released to the Countryside Alliance under the Freedom of Information Act have revealed that at least 135,000 new homes in Britain are planned for flood plains or in flood risk areas.  The Government changed planning policy in 2006 “to ensure that flood risk is taken into account at all stages in the planning process to avoid inappropriate development in areas at risk of flooding, and to direct development away from areas at highest risk”. This new research, however, reveals the thousands of homes already planned in flood risk areas.

National Shooting Week, which will run from Saturday 3 – Sunday 11 May, looks set to be bigger than ever. More than 100 shooting schools and clubs across the nation will open their doors to the public in a bid to find shooting stars of the future.

The management of heather moorland should be the one area where non-shooting conservationists can be unequivocal in their support for shooting. The evidence is overwhelming that on moorland managed for grouse, most importantly through the control of predators and burning of heather, a huge range of other important bird species thrive.