Time running out to have say on general licences, says BASC

BASC is reminding members time is running out to tell Defra of the impact of the general licence chaos.

People have until 5pm on Monday (May 13th) to email Defra to say how they have been affected by Natural England’s decision to withdraw licences for the control of 16 ‘pest’ species.

And the deadline for completing BASC’s short online survey is 5pm tomorrow. Information from this survey will feed into BASC’s official response to Defra’s review into the general licences.

More than 22,000 people have so far completed BASC’s survey and the UK’s largest shooting organisation has also been fielding an extra 1,000 telephone phone calls each day on general licences.

Ian Danby, BASC’s head of biodiversity, this morning told BBC Radio 4’s Farming Today programme that listeners should sieze the chance to make their views known to Defra.

“It’s crucial people engage with the process,” he said. “The response so far to our survey has been phenomenal. More than 12,000 people responded in the first 24 hours and that figure continues to rise.

“People who haven’t yet done so should now use the time left to respond. BASC’s survey takes just five minutes to complete. Put that time to good use and make your views known.”

Visitors to this weekend’s Northern Shooting Show will be able to fill in the BASC survey on the BASC stand up until 5pm tomorrow.

People can email Defra to outline how they have been affected on glevidence@defra.gov.uk

Click here to fill in BASC’s survey. 

The BBC Radio 4 programme can be heard here (from 6 mins 40).