Surrey's rural communities condemn government trail hunting ban consultation

Trail hunting is a legitimate and lawful recreational activity involving a scent being laid across the countryside for packs of hounds to follow. Any pursuit of wild mammals is already subject to the provisions of the Hunting Act 2004, under which prosecutions are brought where there is evidence of illegal activity. Participants act within the legal framework, contributing to local economies, sustaining rural employment and supporting a wide network of small businesses.

Surrey may be England's most densely populated county, but its rural spine — the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the North Downs and the greensand ridges running through Guildford, Dorking and Farnham — sustains a significant network of equestrian and countryside businesses. Trail hunting supports farriers, feed suppliers, country pubs, livery yards and rural accommodation providers across this landscape. A ban would directly affect businesses and households in villages and rural parishes from Shere and Abinger to Lingfield and the Mole Valley.

Ben Wallace, chairman of Future for Hunting, said: "When the government should be focused on delivering for rural Britain, choosing instead to prioritise an ideological attack on a lawful countryside activity sends a troubling message about where its true priorities lie. This is clearly a misguided approach from government, coming at a time when all their focus should be on cost of living and mitigating the escalating fuel prices — an issue that disproportionately affects Surrey's rural communities and the wider countryside. The countryside deserves better than policymaking driven by prejudice rather than practical reality."

A spokesperson for the British Hound Sports Association said: "A ban would have serious and immediate consequences for jobs, livelihoods and animal welfare. Thousands of people are directly and indirectly employed through hunting-related activity, and around 12,000 hounds are currently maintained and cared for by hunts. Ministers have yet to explain what provision would be made for those hounds, or for the rural workers whose incomes depend on this sector."

Tim Bonner, Chief Executive of the Countryside Alliance, warned: "At a time when the countryside is on its knees as a result of misguided government policies and a cost of living crisis heightened by war, the government has again chosen to attack rural communities. A ban on trail hunting is unnecessary, unjustified and unfair. This is nothing more than the government attempting to distract from the real problems facing British people. Voters care about the countryside, the food on their table and cheaper energy bills — not toxic culture wars. With two in three voters believing that the government does not care about the countryside, Sir Keir Starmer is running the very real risk of causing a permanent schism between Labour and the countryside."

Campaign groups in Surrey have called on the county's MPs to make clear their opposition to the proposals, warning that the government risks writing off the concerns of rural residents even in counties where urban and rural communities sit side by side.