Natural England acted "beyond its powers" in its recent licensing regime for gamebird release on Special Protection Areas (SPAs) and Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) - this is the headline judgement handed down in the Royal Courts of Justice in a lawsuit brought against the quango by the British Association for Shooting and Conservation. More than just unlawful, Mr Justice Ritchie found that Natural England’s actions were "irrational".
The ground upon which Natural England was found to have acted ultra vires (beyond its powers) was determined by Mr Justice Richie to be around the act of release itself. The judgement agreed with the claim that gamebirds in a pen are not released into the wild and therefore Natural England is not able to restrict the putting of gamebirds into a pen under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
The Countryside Alliance welcomes this High Court judgement, where common sense has prevailed. It is hoped that the governments in Westminster and Cardiff will pay close attention to this judgement when further considering introducing more general gamebird release licensing regimes; it is clear that the courts look poorly upon regimes that neglect to consider the raft of evidence showing how beneficial the associated management of released gamebirds by gamekeepers is for the surrounding environment. Indeed it would be apt in light of this judgement for the new government to drop altogether its misjudged attack on game shooting contained within its Land Use Framework, which considers licensing all gamebird release and shooting.
Natural England’s much criticised SPA and SAC licensing regime is another example of the mis-regulation of the British countryside by the public sector. The Countryside Alliance will continue to call for a regulator that not only listens to those who actually manage the countryside, but also makes rational decisions based on robust and available scientific evidence.
Natural England almost immediately rejected the judgement in a quite remarkable blog post and has appealed the decision. The British Association for Shooting and Conservation is reviewing the judgement and will consider an application for recovery of costs.
What does this mean for shoots in SPAs and SACs? The judgement limits the conditions that can be applied to licences to release gamebirds by Natural England, who will have to revise its approach to accommodate this. In the meantime, before new advice is published by Natural England, the current licensing regime remains in force, to which shoots must comply.