Priddy Action Group Gains Hunt Supporters Backing

Twenty-seven concerned Priddy residents gathered at the Queen Victoria Pub in Priddy this week swelling the campaign group to over forty local supporters. They met for the second time to discuss the implications of the proposed relocation of the Mendip Farmers’ Hunt to Underbarrow Farm, Wells Road in Priddy.

The Mendip Farmers’ Hunt are finalising plans to build kennels for 60 foxhounds at the site and local residents are so concerned that they have formed an action group:

CANINE (Campaign Against Noise Intruding Nature’s Environment).

CANINE is looking into the potential impact of the proposal and the locals were able to gain reassurance from the meeting by discussing their concerns. Several hunt followers were present adding their support to the local crusade and some openly spoke about their links with the hunt to emphasise that hunting was not the issue.

Christine Duckett, a local resident and smallholder said: “this is not an anti-hunt campaign and I am not anti-hunt but I fully support this campaign. I have lived in the Priddy parish all my life and have grown up with the hunt and farming. I keep sheep and have had to use their fallen stock scheme. My mother lives near the existing kennels and I know what disturbance the dogs can cause. I do not think Underbarrow Farm is the right place for the hunt kennels; it is too residential. The noise will be horrendous, both for the locals and all the wildlife and visitors who use the surrounding mineries for dog walking and leisure.”

Ivan Sandford has lived and worked in the Somerset countryside all his life alongside hunting and other country activities. With his father he worked for JH Cobden for many years, who ran a slaughterhouse and were intrinsically involved with The Seavington Hunt. His family home is on the doorstep of Underbarrow Farm: “ Hounds are notoriously noisy, especially when feeding. When the hunt goes out, often only part of the pack goes, the remainder stay behind and howl and bark until the others return. All this noise will impact on the whole area here, which until now has been a very peaceful place to live. We are within the Mendip Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and this proposal goes against everything that stands for. This is the Mendip Farmers Hunt, not the Priddy Hunt. It will not benefit the local residents here, it will not promote tourism and to my knowledge there are very few people in this village that ride with the hunt. They have been at Plummer’s Lane in Priddy for 85 years, we would encourage them to raise the money to buy that site and spare us and the wildlife here the potential disruption this proposed move will undoubtedly make.” Ends